Fat cat opponent named European of the Year

Minder brought out the boxing gloves to make a point about his fat cat initiative in a debate last year Keystone

Thomas Minder, the parliamentarian and entrepreneur behind the so-called “fat cat initiative” against excessive executive salaries, has been chosen as European of the Year for 2014 by Reader’s Digest Magazine.

In March 2013, Swiss voters approved Minder’s initiative, which lets shareholders weigh in on how much company executives are paid. Specifically, shareholders get a binding vote on remuneration and a greater say on who sits on boards. The initiative also bans certain bonuses given on joining and leaving a company.

With his proposal, Minder achieved the third-best result of any initiative in Switzerland, not only winning approval in urban and rural areas but also in all 26 cantons.

Reader’s Digest, the largest paid-circulation magazine in the world, has often chosen lesser-known personalities for its European of the Year award. For example, human rights activist Iana Matei was chosen in 2010 and Swiss doctor Ruedi Lüthy received the honour in 2007 for his work fighting AIDS in Zimbabwe.

The article naming Minder European of the Year will be published in the February European edition of the magazine.