16588: For Multi-Millionaire CEO, Pay Cut Hurts Less Than Paper Cut…?

 

Mediapsssst at MediaPost revealed that WPP CEO Mark Read took a 33% pay cut last year, based on the latest annual report from the White holding company. The cut translated to a total compensation of 4,498,000 GBP in 2023 vs 6,682,000 GBP in 2022. Converting to US currency, Read pocketed $5,552,781.00, so he’s hardly suffering—unlike the many ex-WPP employees who took 100% pay cuts as a result of Read downsizing, merging, and/or rejiggering White advertising agencies and companies within the network.

 

To put it in greater perspective, Read’s $2,696,148.00 pay cut is roughly $2.6 million more than the average WPP drone’s salary.

 

Read Takes 2023 Salary Hit After Tough Year For WPP

 

By Richard Whitman

 

WPP CEO Mark Read took a 33% pay cut in 2023 according to the holding company’s latest annual report, released this week.

 

Read’s total compensation for last year totaled 4,498,000 GBP, down from 6,682,000 GBP in 2022.

 

The pay cut reflects the tough year that WPP had in 2023, when both reported and organic revenue growth were less than 1%.  The technology and digital services category proved to be a drag on growth throughout the year and was down 6.9% for all of 2023. The company’s retail category was also down significantly.

 

When it reported full-year 2023 results last month the firm provided its estimate for 2024 organic growth of between 0 and 1%, or about the same as last year.

 

“We expect 2024 to be a transitional period of modest growth as we cycle through the impact of some assignment losses last year and as technology companies continue to manage through a period of disruption,” Read wrote in the report. “But we are optimistic about the strategic opportunities ahead of us.”

 

Those opportunities include further development of artificial intelligence, data/technology tools and platforms that will help clients optimize their marketing strategies and business performance, Read stated. “We are confident these plans ... will deliver accelerated and more profitable growth over the medium term.”

 

CFO Joanne Wilson, who joined the firm in the middle of last year took home total compensation of 1,623,000 GBP and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Scott had total comp of 1,606,000 GBP.