Ladbrokes Boss Rewarded £4.7m: 85 Per Cent Pay Raise: Still Faces August Axe

Richard Glynn may be on the hot seat if he can’t turn things around at the UK’s second largest bookmaker, Ladbrokes.  Glynn has already been issued a dire warning that he will be getting the axe come August if financials don’t improve come August.

And the reward for overseeing a company that saw its pre-tax profits drop to £67.6m (down 66% from 2012)?

He’ll be given a total remuneration package worth £4.7m or a pay raise of 85%.

Over the past year, Ladbrokes has been forced to issue three different profit warnings.

So why reward someone for what on paper looks like running a company into the ground?

It’s no different than signing that big NBA prospect who turns out to be a one of the league’s biggest disappointments.  Allen Iverson, for example, was paid more than $200 million during his NBA career.  On paper he looked great, in the lockerroom Iverson was considered a “cancer”.  His team suffered as a result.

Glynn was a star before coming to Ladbrokes in 2010 and, as such, was reeled in through the promise of long-term incentive schemes that included a signing bonus worth £12m.

That's not to say Glynn is necessarily a "cancer" to Ladbrokes.  Other variables outside of the betting firm's control have negatively affected Ladbrokes performance in recent months.  They include a UK crackdown on lucrative high-stakes gambling machines.  Glynn gets to turn things around this summer with the soccer World Cup.

Last year, he qualified for a share bonus worth £2.4m after the bookie’s share price remained above £2 for 30 days.

The Ladbrokes CEO is also yet to exercise shares awarded under another long-term plan.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com