"With a new CEO, Avon's board firmly believes that there is greater opportunity to improve shareholder value in excess of Coty's conditional indication of interest, " the beauty firm said in a statement responding to Coty's offer.

BBC: Beyonce Knowles

To help them, the investors' main trade bodies set guidelines: companies that give share options to their top people are urged to make them conditional on minimum growth in earnings-per-share, and to restrict their value to four times the recipients' annual earnings, at the time they are awarded.

ECONOMIST: Keep on purring