Diageo CEO's Salary Up 72%

[John]

Ever wondered where some of the money you spend on whisky goes?

Paul Walsh, chief executive of the world's biggest spirits group, Diageo Plc, saw his annual salary jump 72 percent to over 6 million pounds last year despite sluggish sales and profits growth.

Walsh, 55, who has led the Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky maker for the last 10 years saw his base salary frozen at 1.155 million pounds in response to economic conditions, according to Diageo's annual report published on Tuesday.

However, he was paid 1.975 million pounds under an annual incentive plan based on profits, net sales and free cash flow, which with other benefits saw his annual salary rise to 3.178 million pounds from 1.706 million pounds the previous year.

Under a long-term incentive plan, Walsh received payments and made gains of 2.859 million pounds, making his total salary 6.037 million pounds, up from 3.501 million previously.

In late August, Diageo said underlying sales and profit both rose just 2 percent in its year to end-June 2010, and its shares fell 1.5 percent on the day.

[brad0309]

How's he gonna afford the VAT increase & potential loss in Child benefit!!!