Holding company chiefs' pay packages soar

by Larissa Bannister, Campaign 30-Jun-05, 08:30

LONDON - A huge gulf has opened up at the major holding companies between chief executives' pay rises and companies' profit growth, according to new analysis from Marketing Services Financial Intelligence.

The biggest difference was at WPP, where the chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, earned $5m in 2004. Sorrell's package has increased by 126.1% since 2001, during which period profit at WPP grew by 7.8%.

John Wren, the Omnicom chief executive, actually received the largest increase in remuneration, up 137.8% to $5.2m, on profit growth of 43.8%.

Publicis' profits grew 22.2% over the three years, while Maurice Levy, its chairman, received a pay rise of 107.5% to $3.9m.

Only at Havas did profit growth beat the increase in Alain de Pouzilhac's pay, which went up 73.5% to $3.4m, though profit growth was magnified by the fact Havas made a loss in 2001.

Out of the four executives analysed, Wren received the largest portion of his total package as bonus ($4m of his $5.2m package) -- common for US executives. Sorrell's $5m package has a basic salary of $1.5m, while Levy's basic comes in at just less than £1m.

No figures were available for Interpublic or Dentsu.

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