The world’s largest independent oil trader, Vitol Group, has shared part of its huge profit as it paid out a record $2.9 billion to its executives and employees through share buybacks, so far this year.
This follows the record results which was declared by the oil firm in 2020, its best so far, despite the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic which led to global lockdowns and affected oil demand.
According to Bloomberg, Vitol recorded a net profit of $3.2 billion in 2020, which is higher than the previous record of $2.3 billion that it achieved in 2009 and 2019.
The $2.9 billion buyback done so far this year, is more than the $2 billion share buyback achieved in 2020. Vitol’s previous record for annual buybacks was $2.2 billion.
The buyback is in addition to the regular salaries and bonuses. Vitol’s employee remuneration bill increased by 67% to $1.23 billion in 2020, which comes to an average of about $495,000 when spread across each of its 2,480 employees.
