Pearson recruits new chief executive in Andy Bird after long hunt to replace John Fallon as exams fiasco rages

Education and exams giant Pearson today hired a Walt Disney executive on a $10 million-plus pay deal to replace outgoing boss John Fallon, who has battled to turn around the struggling company.

Pearson oversees exams in the UK and was last week forced to recalculate the BTec grades it oversees after the government U-turn on re-grading GCSE results.

Today it appointed Andy Bird to be its chief executive on a pay deal including an award of $9.7 million of Pearson shares which it said was needed to lure him from the US-style wages he has enjoyed during his career.

Bird joined Disney in 2004 and expanded its International division, overseeing its transformation into a "digital-first" organisation focusing on delivering its content direct to people's homes online.

Pearson highlighted this element of his career because Fallon has faced a long, uphill battle in turning Pearson from an old-fashioned school and college books publisher into an Internet business.

Pearson has found it difficult to find a replacement for Fallon as the Covid crisis made it harder to schedule interviews.

Chairman Sidney Taurel praised Fallon's rein and said: "Andy brings a wealth of international consumer experience as well as significant expertise in building brands, transformational change and driving digital innovation."

Prior to his time at Disney, Bird was a senior executive at AOL Time Warner and was previously at Piccadilly Radio and Virgin Broadcasting Company.

Bird was paid a salary and bonuses in the double-digit millions of dollars in the US, which would not have been acceptable in the UK, so Pearson has devised a deal whereby if he buys shares in the group, it will match that over three years.

Bird will buy shares worth $3.75 million in return for which Pearson will gift him $9.7 million of stock over three years. The stock will vest according to his performance.