Eni shareholders back board, clear way for CEO's record fifth term

Eni SpA

06/05/2026 16:40

MILAN, May 6 (Reuters) - Eni ENI.MI shareholders on Wednesday approved the appointment of board members put forward by the Italian government, paving the way for CEO Claudio Descalzi to serve a record fifth term at the state-controlled energy group.

Descalzi's reappointment and the replacement of the current chair with former Terna TRN.MI CEO Giuseppina Di Foggia were approved by the majority of the shareholders who participated at the annual meeting, equal to a level of 51.38%.

Eni's proposal to sharply increase its chief executive's pay for 2026, after nine years of no pay boost, also won approval, despite influential proxy adviser ISS having urged shareholders to vote against it.

The Italian government, which controls Eni with a total direct and indirect stake of just over 33%, proposed reappointing Descalzi, 71, last month.

The executive has built a career at the Italian energy group as an upstream and exploration expert with a focus on Africa.

No other CEO among Western-listed oil majors has been in charge longer than Descalzi, who has led Eni since May 2014, though TotalEnergies' TTEF.PA Patrick Pouyanne, who became CEO in October 2014, is not far behind.

To take up the post of Eni chair, Di Foggia last month agreed to waive her claim to 7.3 million euros ($8.6 million) in severance pay at Terna following pressure from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to renounce the payout.

($1 = 0.8495 euros)

(Reporting by Francesca Landini
Editing by Keith Weir)

((francesca.landini@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 66129437; Reuters Messaging: reutersitaly.thomsonreuters@reuters.net/))