(Bloomberg) -- Ericsson Chief Executive Officer Borje Ekholm received an 18% pay cut in 2022 as the company’s performance was overshadowed by a string of corruption scandals, some of which date back more than two decades.

Ekholm’s total remuneration dropped to 53.2 million kronor ($5 million), half of the compensation he received in 2020 and considerably less than the 65.0 million kronor earned in 2021, according to the company’s annual report. The cut was in part due to a 39% slump in the company’s share price as governance concerns weighed heavily on investor sentiment.

Last year saw the Swedish maker of 5G mobile networks suffer one of its worst periods since Ekholm took the helm at the start of 2017. A number of embarrassing revelations surfaced including claims the company had tried to withhold an internal report in which it admitted it may have paid the ISIS terror organization for access to transport routes. Ericsson was also found in breach of a 2019 agreement with US authorities over allegations it paid bribes in Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait.

Nor is the telecommunications giant out of the woods yet with the company still facing a probe in the US over its operations in Iraq. At last year’s annual general meeting, shareholders voted against discharging Ekholm and the board from liability.

Ericsson’s chairman Ronnie Leten, who is stepping down at the upcoming AGM, expressed the board’s continued support for Ekholm in a letter to shareholders as part of the annual report. 

The board had “witnessed with satisfaction Ericsson’s strong commitment and progress in streamlining and clarifying internal processes,” as well as setting “even higher expectations of performance and adherence to its integrity mandate for all employees,” Leten said.

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