CEO Waives Salary and Bonus Forever in Bet on Tech Firm’s Stock

(Bloomberg) -- Avast Plc's new chief executive officer and co-owner, Ondrej Vlcek, gave up his salary and bonus forever, signaling to other shareholders his confidence in the technology company that has gained 46% in the past year.

A day after taking the helm of the Prague-based anti-virus software maker, Vlcek “indefinitely” slashed his overall annual pay to $1 and said he would donate his annual board director's fee of $100,000 to charity, according to a statement from Avast. The CEO now holds 2% of the equity and will continue to be remunerated with shares under the company's long-term incentive plan.

Vlcek, 42, is tying his income to the market pricing of one of the world's biggest cybersecurity firms, which has outperformed most industry peers over the past year and is likely to gain further, according to all analysts tracked by Bloomberg. He replaces Vincent Steckler, who steered Avast's global expansion and helped to take the company public last May in London's biggest-ever technology-focused IPO.

The board has reviewed and accepted Vlcek's proposal to waive his annual salary and bonus. “We respect and commend his decision, which is a testament to his belief in Avast's long-term value creation potential,” Ulf Claesson, chairman of the remuneration committee, said in the statement.

The shares were little changed at 307 pence as of 1:34 p.m. in London, valuing the company at about 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion). The IPO pricing 14 months ago was 250 pence a share.

To contact the reporter on this story: Krystof Chamonikolas in Prague at kchamonikola@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Blaise Robinson at brobinson58@bloomberg.net, John Viljoen, Monica Houston-Waesch

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