C4 boss’s £70k jewellery as she ‘represents under-represented’
CHANNEL 4 boss Alex Mahon faced a staff backlash last night after posing in nearly £70,000 worth of jewellery for a photoshoot to promote the network.
They were furious at the £991,000a-year executive flaunting the gems for an interview in the Daily Telegraph where she claimed that the channel exists ‘to represent the under-represented’.
Ms Mahon wore a diamond necklace
by the Chelsea-based designer Jessica McCormack which retails for £18,750. She twinned it with an even pricier item from the same luxury brand, a necklace with diamond pendant that cost £47,000. The Mail on Sunday reported she wore the latter in June when she was quizzed by MPs about the ‘obscene’ salaries paid to channel executives.
One angry employee told the MoS: ‘Alex is trying to say that Channel 4 is there to represent the under-represented but she is wearing two necklaces that cost a total of nearly £70,000. Oh, the irony.’
Ms Mahon, 48, who took up a parttime role as a non-executive board member at fashion house Chanel earlier this year, has further irritated staff by giving senior employees Advent calendars containing beauty products worth £625 from department store Liberty.
The mother of four and her husband Richard Barker divide their time between two homes – a £1.9million London townhouse and a retreat in the Cotswolds.
Ms Mahon’s salary is nearly double the £525,000 that Tim Davie is paid as director-general of the BBC, which has 19,500 employees compared to the 900 at C4.