Arun Sarin to leave Vodafone with £25 million

The Times says Vodafone CEO will leave Vodafone with around £25 million in shares and bonus payments. He has 28.5 million shares and share options worth around £12 million at current prices, although they can't be sold until 2009. He also has 14.5 million shares and share options, worth £10.1 million, that can be cashed in immediately if he wants. In addition, Mr Sarin will receive a bonus of more than one and a half times his £1.3 million salary. [Sources: The Times; Telegraph.co.uk]

Daily Mail says Vodafone "spied on its own board"

The Mail on Sunday says it has evidence that Vodafone spied on its board of directors in 2006 to see whether or not they were loyal to Chief Executive Arun Sarin - and adds that Mr Sarin "presided over one of the most squalid episodes in UK corporate history". It's suggested that the company used call data and text message logs to try and prove a conspiracy against Arun Sarin in 2006. The newspaper says Vodafone has responded with a statement saying it will not comment on any particular investigation but it has never knowingly or deliberately breached any laws as part of any investigation. [Source: DailyMail.co.uk]

Vodafone's Arun Sarin to retire

Vodafone has announced that Chief Executive Arun Sarin is retiring in July after five years in the role. He will be replaced by current Deputy Chief Executive Vittorio Colao. Mr Colao was appointed Chief Executive of Vodafone's European businesses and Deputy Group Chief Executive of Vodafone Group plc in October 2006. The company has also announced its annual results, with profits up 5.7% to £10.1 billion and a proportionate mobile customer base of 260 million people worldwide. [CEO press release; results press release]

Vodafone has Europe's highest-paid CEO

A study from global management consultancy Hay Group says that Vodafone's Arun Sarin is Europe's highest-paid CEO. It calculated the total value of his financial rewards as €11.37 million (about £8.5 million) as of September 2007, consisting of around £3.5 million salary and bonus plus £5 million in long-term incentives. [Sources: Cellular-News.com, Hay Group pdf]

Vodafone welcomes China Mobile to LTE trials - but there's no rush to implement it

China Mobile has joined Vodafone and Verizon's trial of LTE (Long Term Evolution), the "4G" technology that offers faster mobile data services. However, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin has said his company will wait for LTE to mature before it commits to the technology. He also called for research and development in the competing WiMAX system to be merged with work on LTE. [Sources: CNNMoney.com, Forbes.com]

Vodafone CEO rejects EU call for data price cuts

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin has said it's inappropriate for European Commissioner Viviane Reding to be threatening mobile operators with price controls if they don't cut their text message charges for 'roaming' customers abroad. He's quoted in the International Herald Tribune as saying "You do retail price regulation where the market is not functioning. But I have not seen any evidence that that is the case in the EU". EC spokesman Martin Selmayr responded "The commission sees strong indications that the market as regards international data roaming is not well functioning at the moment. Commissioner Reding trusts that Mr. Sarin and his colleagues will bring the house in order by themselves. Otherwise, the current lack of cooperation will have to be remedied by regulatory means."

Arun Sarin profile in The Times

The Times carries a profile of Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin ahead of the company's trading update on Thursday. It also mentions "speculation now that having retrieved his reputation after the horror days of 2006, Mr Sarin, who is 54, will retire".

British press speculates on Sarin's pay

There's been quite a bit of press speculation about the amount of money heading towards Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin. The company's share price has lept by around a third in 2007, which has prompted suggestions he's likely to receive around £45 million in a combination of share options and performance-related pay. [Source: TimesOnline.co.uk]