Cindy Rose briefing analysts.
Shareholders of WPP, holding a stake in a company with negative growth, are being asked to award Cindy Rose, their new CEO, a more lucrative pay package.
Rose, who took the reins of WPP in September last year when it was reporting client losses and a weak share price, is likely to get a multi million pound boost to her compensation.
Rose, in an overhaul of WPP’s remuneration structure, would have a maximum payout of £14.2 million.
To do that she would have to add 50% to the company's share price and meet the requirements of short and long term incentives.
The deal will go to the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in May for approval by shareholders.
However, the board of directors at WPP has been sounding out the new deal to major shareholders before submitting it to the AGM.
Her predecessor, Mark Read, had a maximum potential pay of £8.6 million in 2024.
Rose’s starting base salary was £1,250,000 plus an apartment in the US so she has somewhere to stay when working there.
She also got a special cash pile of £856,790, representing the annual bonus forfeited at her former employer, together with stock awards which would have vested.
WPP also gave her a restricted stock award of £5,085,376 vesting quarterly to September 2030.
“As announced on July 10, 2025, Cindy was appointed on a base salary of £1,250,000,” said the company’s compensation committee in the latest annual report.
“The committee carefully considered the compensation package on appointment, recognising that while the salary was at a premium to her predecessor, it was required to secure a high-calibre candidate from the technology sector.”
Rose arrived with WPP facing client losses and fading new business.
She has been building a turnaround plan called Elevate28. The company plans to get back to growth sometime in 2027 after GBP 500 million in cost cutting, merging back office functions, and consolidating leadership at global, regional and at market levels.
The latest results show the advertising group, once the world’s largest, post full year 2025 revenue of £13.55 billion, down 8.1% on a reported basis and negative 3.6% like-for-like.
And the company is forecasting a weak March quarter with like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs down mid to high single digits in the first half of 2026 with an improving trajectory in the second half.
Papers lodged with the results show staff levels of the global business at the end of 2025 at 99,000, down more than 8% from 108,000 the year before.
Mark Read, the former CEO who stepped down August 31 last year, is still on the payroll.
He has been on “garden” leave since November 14. This will end June 8.
In the meantime, he still gets paid monthly. His base salary is £1,155,000 and he has an allowance of £35,000.
Cindy Rose's new deal:
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.