Despite officially resigning in September at the height of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn is still on the company’s payroll and could earn millions until his contract terminates at the end of 2016, an investigation by Germany’s business daily Handelsblatt and TV network ZDF reveals.
Winterkorn, 68, who pulls in an annual salary of 1.6 million euros, could qualify for more than 10 million euros in bonuses on top of that, according to the report. Volkswagen saw “no reason not to continue paying” him, Handelsblatt reported, citing sources close to the VW supervisory board.
Winterkorn stepped down soon after the scandal broke in September. In 2014, he was the highest-paid German corporate executive when he pulled in 15 million euros.
