€1 billion in bonuses to Philips bosses

According to EETimes three senior executives at Royal Philips Electronics were awarded a total of Euros 1.05 million in the transaction that saw the spin-off of the conglomerate's semiconductors division to create NXP Semiconductors. Chief Executive Gerard Kleisterlee, Chief Financial Officer Pierre-Jean Sivignon and Semiconductor CEO Frans van Houten were the main beneficiaries of the "special payment" that saw Philips sell an 80.1 percent stake in the chips division last year to a private equity group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.