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WPP chief executive Cindy Rose stands to receive an annual maximum of £11mn if shareholders approve a new pay policy at the struggling British advertiser’s annual general meeting.
Rose could earn as much as £11mn if her short and long-term incentive bonuses fully pay out, according to WPP’s annual report published on Thursday.
This is compared with the £8.6mn that her predecessor Mark Read could have been awarded in the year before he left. Rose is in line for £1.7mn in fixed pay, with Read having taken about £1.3mn.
The group was among the advertising and software companies hit hard by a market sell-off over the threat of rival AI tools and Rose’s arrival in September has done little to arrest the steep decline in the company’s shares.
WPP’s share price has fallen by a third since the start of the year and shares are trading at a 17-year low, with the group crashing out of the FTSE 100 in December.
In addition to the proposed pay rise, WPP paid more than £5mn to buy Rose out of her contract at Microsoft when she joined the group last year, according to the annual report.
Rose received £6.8mn between her September start date at WPP and December 31 2025, the report reads.
The majority of this amount covers the so-called “buyout awards” paid by WPP to replace unvested or deferred bonuses from Microsoft.
This figure comprised cash of £856,790 and a buyout restricted share award that will vest over the period to September 30 2030, taking the buyout to £5mn.
The report also said that WPP has agreed to pay for a New York apartment for Rose, an American-British dual national who works between WPP’s New York and London offices. The apartment is included in Rose’s fixed pay.
Since joining, the former Microsoft UK boss has kicked off a strategic overhaul to try to spark a recovery for the advertising network, with plans to simplify and streamline the operations of the sprawling network to offer clients a simpler, better service.
WPP has unveiled plans to cut £500mn a year in costs by 2028 and sell non-core businesses, while executives point to recent client wins such as work for Reckitt and Henkel in Europe and the UK government.
Rose’s new proposed pay package would still put her behind some peers in the industry, with rival bosses in the US, such as at Omnicom, earning more than twice as much, according to the annual report. Rose will earn a similar amount to the boss of Publicis, the French advertising agency that has won clients from WPP over the past two years.
Shareholders must vote on the proposal at the company’s AGM on May 8.
The company did not immediately return a request seeking comment.