It's Good To Be (Pay) King

WPP CEO Martin Sorrell is once again the pay king of Adland. Last year he earned 70.4 million British pounds or about $107 million, far higher than any other Adland holding company CEO. Sorrell’s pay was reported in the company’s annual report for 2015, which was released last week.

By comparison, Omnicom CEO John Wren pulled in $23.5 million, while Interpublic Group’s Michael Roth reaped $14.5 million. MDC Partners’ Scott Kauffman earned $3.26 million and Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Levy took in a little over 3.9 million euros, per the company’s annual report, or about $4.5 million. Havas CEO Yannick Bollore earned more than 1.7 million euros (or almost $2 million) last year, according to a document filed in advance of the firm’s upcoming annual meeting.

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Most of Sorrell’s compensation came in the form of a long-term incentive bonus of more than 62 million pounds (about $88 million) covering the period from 2011-2015.

“While the value of Sir Martin Sorrell’s award is very large, it was the result of an outstanding set of returns to share owners,” stated John Hood, chairman of the WPP board’s compensation committee.  

According to the company, total shareholder return during the period covered by Sorrell’s long-term bonus was 134.9%. During the period, share price rose an average 14.6% annually, revenues were up a total of 31.1% and pre-tax-and-interest profits rose 44.4%.

The company’s succession planning has been ongoing for some time. In the latest annual report WPP Chairman Roberto Quarta (who succeeded Philip Lader last June) wrote that the company’s succession plan is being approached from two angles, including an “orderly, planned process,” as well as a “potentially more sudden” transition.

“Sir Martin [who is 71], like all of us,” wrote Quarta, “is not immune from being hit by the proverbial bus.” That said, Quarta noted that while the company has begun to compile a list of both internal and external candidates, Sorrell’s tenure as CEO remains open ended. “At some point we all leave our jobs,” he wrote. “The question is when. “In Sorrell’s case, he added, that could be “tomorrow,” or “in one, two, three, four or five years, or even over a longer period.”  

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