The slide in share prices last year meant that top executives at Dutch companies earned much less from options and shares, according to research by the Volkskrant.

Combined income from stocks and options fell by 82% to €56m compared with 2007, the paper said. Researchers studied 803 transactions recorded by the financial sector watchdog AFM.
The highest earner from options was Sjoerd Vollebregt of engineering group Stork who cashed in for €3.8m when the company was split up. This is way below the €75m which Jan Bennink earned from selling Numico in 2007, the paper points out.
Nancy McKinstry at publishing group Wolters Kluwer got a share bonus of over €4m, but this was largely due to the company’s performance between 2005 and 2007, the Volkskrant says.
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