Martin Sorrell pockets 60 per cent rise in pay
SIR Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of advertising giant WPP, saw his overall pay package jump a whopping 60 per cent to £6.77m last year.
Sir Martin’s base salary rose 30 per cent to £1.3m, and he also pocketed a £2m cash bonus, up from £1.9m last year.
His deferred share bonus more than tripled to £3m and he was awarded £459,000 in other benefits.
More than four in ten shareholders voted against WPP’s pay plans at last year’s shareholder meeting, and the media group could be on course for a fresh investor bust-up at its 2012 AGM next month with this fresh hike.
Jeffrey Rosen, chairman of WPP’s compensation committee, highlighted in the company’s annual report that this is only the second time Sir Martin’s salary has been increased in the last ten years.
“The committee recognises that the subject of executive compensation is particularly contentious in the current political and governance environment,” Rosen said.
Pre-tax profits at the advertising group soared past £1bn for the first time last year, increasing by 18 per cent as revenues grew 7.4 per cent to an unprecedented £10bn.
Sir Martin, who turned basket firm Wire and Plastic Products into media behemoth WPP over years of acquisitions, also received £585,000 for his pension pot.
The chief executive’s maximum possible bonus was increased from 300 per cent to 500 per cent of his salary. The report noted that WPP is now “a considerably larger and more complex organisation than in 2007”, when Sir Martin’s salary was last reviewed.
WPP’s shares dropped by 1.2 per cent, or 10p, to 833.5p.