FT9 Jun 2015 07:35
WPP needs to line up an heir and a spare: On Tuesday, shareholders, including Standard Life Investments, will deliver their annual pasting to the board of WPP, the sprawling advertising company, for ratifying another sharp increase in Sir Martin’s pay. It rose 40% last year, knocking MP’s much-discussed 10% pay rise into a cocked hat. Even the most truculent investors don’t want the Adland Emperor to go. As his supporters point out, returns from WPP’s shares including dividends have exceeded 171% over five years and 90% of the pay packet was linked to the rise in the share price and dividends. But it is way above the average for Sir Martin’s peer group. The fact that he can command such sums suggests a board in thrall to its Chief Executive and one that has not spent enough time planning succession. The new Chairman, Roberto Quarta, must live up to his nickname and “give no quarta”. He needs to reassure investors that he can produce an heir and even a spare, to keep the irrepressible 69-year-old in line. One way to stop a dominant Executive who likes to hold a board to ransom, particularly over pay, is to brandish the CVs of alternatives. Bear in mind, this month is the 200th anniversary of the first Napoleon’s Waterloo.