“Leadership involves setting a good example, and for chief executives at the moment that should mean showing some restraint. Even admirers of WPP’s success will wonder whether such a vast figure can be justified,” said Stefan Stern of the High Pay Centre.
The pay will be split between about £55.6 million from the Leap scheme and £8.5 million in dividends from Sir Martin’s small ownership stake in WPP, which is worth nearly £300 million in itself.
At last year’s WPP annual meeting about one in five WPP shareholders voted against his £43 million pay package.
Despite the large figure, Sorrell fails to beat the 2009 payday for Reckitt Benckiser boss Bart Becht, who picked up £90 million – the highest figure on record.
Executive pay has become a highly charged issue in Britain’s boardrooms following the so-called 2012 shareholder spring, when the bosses of firms such as Aviva and Trinity Mirror suffered a string of defeats over remuneration packages.
This annual meeting season is likely to be less militant, but a number of chief executives could face shareholder uprisings.
Pascal Soriot, the boss of UK drug giant AstraZeneca, could encounter a protest vote over his £8.4 million pay-packet, which was announced last week and comes as the group struggles with a dip in performance.
The pressure has been on Soriot ever since he turned down a £70 billion offer for the group from US drug rival Pfizer in 2014 with a promise to hit ambitious sales targets.
Shares have fallen 10% since the turn of the year.
