MAN SE WOLFSBURG (Reuters) - Volkswagen Group's (>> Volkswagen AG) Matthias Mueller was awarded 7.78 million euros ($8.28 million) in pay and benefits for 2016, a more moderate package than his predecessor Martin Winterkorn got in the year the carmaker was embroiled in a diesel scandal.
Winterkorn got 7.31 million euros in remuneration for 2015 for serving less than nine months as CEO before being forced out of office on Sept. 25, after the company admitted to systematically cheating diesel emissions tests.
After posting record losses in 2015, VW overhauled its bonus and executive pay policy in February this year to cap total pay for its chief executive at 10 million euros ($10.6 million) and other top managers at 5.5 million euros.
Mueller, who took over as chief executive in September 2015, was paid a total of 4.17 million euros in for that year, the company's annual report showed on Tuesday, which included remuneration for his role as Volkswagen management board member in charge of Porsche.
The figure is based on amounts paid out for the fiscal year in accordance with the German corporate governance code.
According to consulting firm HKP, which specializes in compensation, Mueller is the seventh best paid chief executive among German blue-chip firms which have published executive compensation.
HKP lists SAP's (>> SAP SE) Bill McDermott as the top earner with 15.33 million euros in total pay for 2016.
VW brand chief Herbert Diess saw his total remuneration for 2016 fall to 3.93 million euros, down from 7.13 million in 2015, the annual report showed.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer and Edward Taylor, editing by Louise Heavens)
