Rami Levy, who holds the controlling interest of Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing (62.2%), announced on Tuesday that in light of the current economic situation and social protest against wages earned by top public company managers, and in a bid to set a personal example for helping to reduce social inequality, he will divide his quarterly bonus between 780 of his employees who earn low wages as per criteria set by the company's management.
In 2010, Levy was paid a NIS 5 million ($1.35 million) annual bonus – as per his agreement with the company – which made up 79% of his salary.
After having received the bonus in 2010, Levy and his wife Adina announced that they would waive 50% of the bonus from that point on. The bonus is a derivative of the company's profits before taxes.
The gesture, however, was not approved by the company and he was paid the entire bonus.
The cost of Levy's salary for the company in 2010 was NIS 1.3 million ($350,000) for his services as company CEO and director.