WPP plans to increase the potential pay and bonus package for its chief executive, Cindy Rose, to a maximum of $14.78 million a year (£11.1 million a year)— a significant increase on the $11.45 million (£8.6 million) that her predecessor, Mark Read, could earn.
Rose earns a base salary of $1.67 million (£1.25 million) and will be eligible for a higher bonus award, which is based on multiples of her salary, as part of proposed changes announced by WPP’s compensation committee in the company’s annual report.
The UK agency group published the historic pay packages of the CEOs of Omnicom, Interpublic and Publicis Groupe to show WPP’s CEO has been paid less than peers, and it said it wants to close the pay gap, particularly on US rivals, to be competitive.
WPP added its CEO also earns less than some senior US-based colleagues who sit on the WPP executive committee, the company’s top management board.
About one third of the exco, all of whom were based in the US, received total compensation that “exceeded” what Read earned in both 2023 ($5.99 million / £4.5 million) and 2024 ($5.06 million / £3.8 million), the compensation committee said.
Part of the reason for this “disparity in incentive arrangements across the organisation” was because the company set pay according to “local market practices” and packages tend to be higher in the US than in the UK, where WPP is headquartered.
“Over time, this has led to material pay compression challenges between executive directors and in particular our US-based executive committee roles,” the report said.
“The committee believes it is appropriate to narrow this disparity and alleviate some of the challenges of pay compression, creating a fair and sustainable framework across the global executive.”
Rose started on 1 September 2025 and earned a total package of $9.05 million (£6.8 million) last year — chiefly because she received about $7.85 million (£5.9 million) in cash and stock to compensate her for giving up awards from her previous employer, Microsoft. She is based jointly in the UK and US.
She received no short-term bonus for financial performance during 2025, when revenues fell 5.4%, but she received her maximum bonus for non-financial metrics.
Read, who stepped down as CEO on 31 August, earned a package of $1,162,089 (£873,000) for the first eight months of the year. He received no bonuses given the company’s performance, the annual report said.
He remains an employee until June 2026, after announcing he was stepping down in June 2025, and continues to receive an annual salary of $1,537,605 (£1,155,000).
Rose started on a higher salary of $1,665,125 (£1,250,000) because the board wanted “to secure a high‑calibre candidate from the technology sector”, the compensation committee said.
She is currently eligible for short-term bonuses worth 250% of salary and long-term bonuses worth 400% of salary if she hits performance targets.
The most significant proposed change will mean Rose is entitled to a new, additional annual stock award, called a restricted share award, worth 100% of salary, which will take five years to earn.
WPP initially considered increasing Rose’s bonuses by a larger quantum — the long-term bonus could have been worth 500% and restricted shares worth 150% of salary — but the company scaled back those plans after receiving feedback from shareholders.
The agency group consulted with shareholders on executive compensation in recent months, as part of a routine review, which is carried out every three years. The company said it spoke to 15 of its largest investors, representing 81% of the company’s stock, about its plans.
Joanne Wilson, the chief financial officer, will also be entitled to the new restricted share award. She would be able to earn a maximum package of $7.73 million (£5.8 million).
The proposed changes to CEO and executive director compensation are to be presented for approval at WPP’s AGM on 8 May.
US agency and tech groups tend to pay much higher packages than their UK counterparts. John Wren, CEO of Omnicom, WPP’s biggest US rival, earned $21.7 million (£16.3 million) in 2024, according to its most recent proxy statement.
WPP used to have a bigger bonus scheme, known as LEAP, that paid Sir Martin Sorrell, the then CEO, £70m at its peak in 2015. The company subsequently reduced the quantum of the bonuses because of shareholder protests.
Source: Campaign UK
