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Advertising Sir Martin Sorrell WPP

Sir Martin Sorrell facing fresh WPP shareholder rebellion over £70.4m pay package

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By John Glenday, Reporter

June 6, 2016 | 2 min read

WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell is facing a fresh fight to justify earning £70.4m a year after a significant minority of shareholders indicated that they would vote against the package during the group’s annual remuneration report this Wednesday.

Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP

According to the Times, Pirc and ShareSoc, two proxy advisory firms, are leading the charge on the matter by advising investors to reject Sorrell’s bumper pay packet whilst a third, ISS, would offer only tepid support for the deal.

In April, Sorrell gave an interview to CNBC where he outlined the basis of his defence for his huge bonus on the grounds that his pay was “geared to the success of the company,” and added that it was “pay for performance”.

He added: “I continue to hold in the company, so every time the company does well, I benefit. And of course, a large number of other people – because I'm not the only one involved in these plans – and every time we do badly, we all suffer.”

A shareholder rebellion against Sorrell’s ever incrementing pay has become an annual feature in WPP’s corporate diary with 22 per cent voting against a similar deal last year when Sir Martin took home a relatively miserly £43m.

In 2015 close to a third of shareholders similarly rebelled to no effect.

This time around however the scale of the WPP chief’s pay rise is expected to translate into a commensurate rise in opposition although it is still unlikely to form a majority opinion.

In a statement ShareSoc said: “In view of his shareholdings and existing incentive awards, I don’t see why he needs to be given any more incentives. I don’t think it will make him work any harder.”

WPP calculates that Sorrell has earned £191m since 2009 and £300m since his rise to the role of chief executive.

Advertising Sir Martin Sorrell WPP

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