Billionaire John Paulson is building a coalition of major investors in some of the world’s top gold producers to curb years of “value destruction” and excessive executive compensation in the industry.
“The days of CEOs getting rich while shareholders lose has got to end,” Paulson said Tuesday in an emailed statement ahead of a presentation by Paulson & Co. at the Denver Gold Forum. “Management must be accountable.”
The group, to be named the Shareholder’s Gold Council, aims to unify and amplify the voices of institutional investors on matters including board appointments, pay plans and merger activity, said Marcelo Kim, a partner at the hedge fund firm who oversees investments in natural resources.
“Returns have been dreadful,” Kim said in a phone interview. “If we get enough investors on board, these companies won’t have any other choice but to listen to us.”
Shares Slump
Shares of 15 gold miners tracked by Bloomberg Intelligence, led by Yamana Gold Inc. and Kinross Gold Corp., have slumped 59 percent since the end of 2010, compared with a slide of 8.5 percent for the precious metal. Several producers poured money into new mines earlier this decade, just as gold prices began to fall, leaving them larded with debt.
For the rest of this column: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-26/billionaire-paulson-takes-fight-to-gold-ceos-he-calls-overpaid