Sky’s £115m boss

Takeover war will hand him £30m payday on top of the £85m he has already made

SKY’s chief executive is set to walk away with a £30m payout if the firm is sold to American giant Comcast – taking his total earnings running the firm to more than £115m.

Jeremy Darroch, who has been at the helm of the broadcaster for just over a decade, stands to make the huge sum if his existing and future share awards pay out.

The 55-year- old is one of the best- paid bosses in Britain already – last year he took home more than £16m and has earned almost £85m in pay and bonuses since 2007.

The takeover will also hand finance chief Andrew Griffith more than £14m.

Both could make even more if Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox wades in with an even bigger bid. Fox and Comcast have both launched attempted takeovers of Sky, with Comcast making a £22bn offer on Tuesday.

It is prepared to stump up 1250p per share, a 16pc premium on Fox’s earlier offer of 1075p.

Darroch holds about 689,871 shares and is entitled to another 1.7m, through performancerelated awards.

Under his leadership, the firm has grown its customer base to 23m, expanded into the broadband market and brought in US TV hits such as Game of Thrones to the UK.

Darroch has remained quiet as to what his own future holds at Sky after the takeover.

Last month he commented: ‘That conversation has to happen at the right time but I’m as motivated by this business as I’ve ever been.’

Griffith holds about 172,445 shares but is entitled to a further 1.27m. The finance and operating chief, 47, has been at the firm since 2008.

He took home £9.7m last year and has been described as Sky’s ‘chief executive in waiting’.

The former Rothschild banker is also on the board of takeaway firm Just Eat, currently as its interim chairman.

A spokesman for Sky said yesterday: ‘At Sky we link pay directly to performance, and under Jeremy and Andrew’s leadership Sky has been consistently rated best for customer service and has delivered continued revenue growth and strong returns for shareholders.’

Investors are watching intently to see just how Rupert Murdoch’s Fox will react to Comcast’s bid for Sky.

Fox, which owns 39pc of Sky, has seen its own bid dogged by regulator probes.

This is because the Competition and Markets Authority is concerned that by putting Sky – and by extension Sky News – in Murdoch’s hands, it would give the mogul too much control over the media. He already owns The Sun, The Times and the Sunday Times newspapers.

But Fox wants its takeover of Sky to go ahead quickly because it is part of a £39bn mega- deal struck by Murdoch to sell his company’s entertainment assets – which includes the broadcaster – to Disney.

Yesterday, ratings agency Moody’s said the rival offer was a threat to Fox’s plans as it offered shareholders‘ a regulation friendly alternative ’.

Sky shares closed 1.2pc, or 16.5p, higher at 1348p.