Burberry fashion guru cashes in £3m shares
CHRISTOPHER Bailey, the former Burberry chief executive, has just cashed in £3.1 million of shares out of £10.5 million of options that came to fruition this summer.
It is part of a lucrative pay and perks package for the fashion guru, who received a £440,000 cash allowance last year when his remuneration totalled £3.5 million.
On top of that, he was handed £20,000 of ‘non-cash’ benefits including a clothing allowance.
Although he could easily afford to pay full price, he also gets an 80 per cent discount off Burberry’s high-priced clothing and accessories.
It means he could buy a reversible Donegal tweed and gabardine trench coat for £379, instead of the £1,895 an ordinary shopper would pay.
All Burberry’s senior leadership and board members receive the perk. Ordinary employees receive discretionary discounts. The company says it considers them ‘its most important brand ambassadors’.
After tax and commission, Bailey received £1.65 million from the share sale.
A total of more than 680,000 of his options matured this summer, most of them from an award made three years ago, when he was made chief executive, to stop him being poached by a rival.
During his tenure he clashed with shareholders over pay after more than half of the investors refused to support an eye-watering pay package worth up to £27 million. Bailey stepped aside last month after criticism over performance, but he has retained the role of chief creative officer, which he kept throughout his stewardship of the business.
The 46-year-old has also taken the new position of president.
New chief executive Marco Gobbetti – formerly boss of elite fashion house Celine – will receive similar pay and bonuses to Bailey, although his cash allowance is a far more modest £80,000.