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CRIME

Siemens to take former directors’ stock options

German industrial giant Siemens plans to confiscate stock options belonging to former boss Heinrich von Pierer who has been accused of ignoring corrupt practices at the company, a press report said on Friday.

Siemens to take former directors' stock options
Photo: DPA

The action would probably also affect other former Siemens directors, the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said, citing a company source.

It said that von Pierer, the iconic former head of Siemens, and colleagues had benefitted like many other multinational managers from stock option programmes worth several million euros.

The options allow company directors to buy shares in the company at a set price and date, which generally results in comfortable capital gains when they are sold later.

Options held by von Pierer and others come due shortly but the Siemens supervisory board has decided to freeze them, the newspaper reported.

Faced with a widespread corruption scandal, the group has turned against its former management, in particular von Pierer, who ran Siemens from 1992 to 2005 and then headed its supervisory board for two years.

The company has already decided to claim compensation from former directors, who allegedly looked the other way as the company paid bribes to obtain foreign contracts.

The scandal erupted in 2007 and has cost the German conglomerate dearly.

On Thursday, Siemens said it was close to reaching agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on a possibly heavy fine in connection with the scandal.

The 161-year-old conglomerate which makes everything from nuclear power stations to trains and light bulbs, and employs some 400,000 people worldwide, has acknowledged that up to €1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) may have been used illegally to win foreign contracts.

Siemens found the practice was widespread across its numerous divisions.

The German group recently made provisions of €1 billion against potential fines in both Germany and the United States.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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