How some of Britain’s richest bosses are being showered with extraordinary perks: Coca-Cola HBC boss handed out £250,000 ‘cost of living’ increase
Some of Britain’s wealthiest CEOs are being showered with extraordinary perks including bonuses for their partners, cash for alcohol, designer clothes, travel expenses and second homes, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Zoran Bogdanovic, the chief executive of FTSE100 drinks bottling giant Coca-Cola HBC, received £736,000 in benefits last year, including an allowance for his partner, £90,000 housing benefit and a living expenses payment of almost £250,000.
The Croatian businessman also received £252,000 to cover his taxes. These handouts came on top of a base salary of £691,000.
Perks of the job: Coca-Cola boss Zoran Bogdanovic received £736,000 in benefits last year
Former Burberry chief executive Marco Gobbetti received £178,000 in benefits, including a £60,000 cash allowance to cover clothing and other benefits.
Other bosses were happy about council housing, free travel and even tuition for private schools.
Drinks giant Diageo chief executive Ivan Menezes receives an allowance package totaling £133,000. That includes £86,000 for financial advice and preparing his tax returns, as well as a payment that allows him to entertain with his company’s drinks including Guinness, Johnnie Walker and Tanqueray.
Tesco Chief Executive Ken Murphy was paid more than £26,000 to travel from his family’s home in Ireland to the supermarket’s headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.
National Grid boss John Pettigrew was given £85,500 to help cover the cost of a car and driver after demanding half a million pounds to move from Leamington Spa to London in 2019.
While British Airways customers faced a summer of travel disruption, parent company International Airlines Group paid Luis Gallego £250,000 to cover “transition costs” of maintaining homes in London and Madrid. The payments, which will cease in December, are in addition to the Spanish executive’s base salary of £738,000.
British American Tobacco’s Jack Bowles was paid £69,000 for maintaining security at his home.
Luke Hildyard of the High Pay Center said: “Ordinary people have to pay for their own moving or transport costs when they start a new job.”
