S4 Pays Sorrell £140k for 2018

WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell's recently launched marcoms business S4 Capital paid him £140k in salary, bonus and pension contribution, for just over six months' work last year, the firm's annual report reveals.

S4 was set up by Sorrell (pictured) in May last year, just six weeks after he left WPP amid claims of 'personal misconduct' - which he strongly denied. Sorrell had led WPP for more than 30 years, during which time he acquired ad agencies including J Walter Thompson and Ogilvy and Mather, and set up the data investment management (DIM) division, a.k.a. Kantar. 2017 figures showed Sorrell to be the highest paid exec in the UK's FTSE 100 companies, with a salary of just under £41.6m.

Under Sorrell's guidance, S4's first acquisition was of Dutch creative digital production company MediaMonks, and the business then merged with programmatic solutions provider MightyHive. Last week, S4 expanded its digital content and programmatic capabilities with the acquisitions of Amsterdam and Miami-based film production studio Caramel Pictures and São Paulo-based programmatic consultancy ProgMedia.

In November, S4 reported revenue of £26.2m for the three months ended 30th September. In its recently released report and accounts, the firm confirmed that Sorrell had collected - between setting up S4 in May and the end of December last year - £61k in salary (of an annual salary of £100k), as well as a £61k bonus and around £18k in pension contributions.

Web site: www.s4capital.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.