BT hands shares worth £5mto chief

THE chief executive of BT is thought to be in line for a £5 million windfall after overseeing a turnaround at the telecoms giant.

Ian Livingston is reported to be enjoying the benefit of a long-term bonus deal, which gave out tens of millions of shares to top staff at a time when the company reported its firstever loss.

Scot Mr Livingston, 47, reportedly received two million shares, deferred for three years on condition that all of BT’S financial targets were met.

Since then, BT’S share price has more than trebled after the chief executive cut 30,000 jobs and turned around the problematic IT services division.

The bonus scheme is reportedly tied to cashflows and the share price and will pay out in full – delivering huge payouts to Mr Livingston and his executive colleagues.

Mrlivingston will get 2.13 million shares at last week’s closing price of 226p. Head of retail Gavin Paterson and BT’S finance director Tony Chanmugam should get windfalls of £2.4 million and £2.2 million respectively.

The payments are likely to fan the flames of the boardroom pay debate, which has continued to rage in 2012 with banking chiefs at the centre of public outrage.

Mrlivingston’s £5 million will come on top of his salary and annual bonuses of £3.8 million last year.