Electra tries to convince institutional investors to give Itamar Deutscher a salary of 126 million shekels
Electra's board, led by chairman Mikey Zalkind, is negotiating with institutional bodies to approve a new compensation package for CEO Itamar Deutscher, totaling approximately 126 million shekels over seven years, with an annual cost of 17-18 million shekels. This move aims to avoid another override after the board approved salaries against shareholder wishes five times since 2015. Institutional investors oppose the high salary and offer significantly lower packages.
Electra's board, led by chairman Mikey Zalkind, is negotiating with institutional bodies to formulate a new compensation package for CEO Itamar Deutscher, with an annual cost of 17-18 million shekels and a total of approximately 126 million shekels over seven years. The move is intended to avoid another override, after the board approved salaries for Deutscher against shareholder wishes five times since 2015, including options worth 24 million shekels that 93% of public shareholders opposed. Institutional investors oppose the proposed salary level and offer packages of 10-15 million shekels per year. Some noted that after the dismissal of external directors in the case of Shikun & Binui, it is clear that one does not "mess with the institutions." Deutscher has managed Electra for 21 years; the company's value rose from 300 million shekels to approximately 8.5 billion shekels, and it distributed dividends of 1.3 billion shekels. However, net profit attributable to shareholders was cut by 25% in 2025, and Electra's stock provided half the return of its benchmark indices since the start of 2024. Deutscher's salary cost in 2025 stood at 15.2 million shekels, after 17.7 million in 2024 and 20.5 million in 2023. His option realizations since 2015 totaled nearly 180 million shekels, with a profit of about 65 million shekels.