SKY CHIEF CASHES IN AS SHARES SOAR

SKY boss Jeremy Darroch ( pictured) is set to pocket a windfall of up to £42m if the takeover by 21st Century Fox goes through.

Darroch, 55, owns 689,871 shares outright, which would be worth £9.7m at Fox’s offer of £14 a share. The married father-of-three has another 2.3m shares coming his way if he hits targets under bonus schemes.

What happens to this stock has not yet been decided but if the schemes were to pay out in full on completion of the deal – not unusual in massive takeovers – these shares would be worth another £32m.

His potential windfall has soared as the battle for Sky has intensified.

Fox first offered £10.75 a share before Comcast bid £12.50. Analysts believe Fox’s latest offer of £14 a share could still be topped, earning Darroch even more.

Darroch, who lives in Surrey, has run Sky for more than a decade. He is an ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund.