Cooked Books! WPP Demands Sorrell Repay $367,000 In Dodgy Expenses
WPP has demanded that its former CEO, Sir Martin Sorrell, repay almost £200,000 ($A367,000) in expenses he wasn’t entitled to.
According to reports in the the Wall Street Journal, Sorrell has already paid back £170,000 ($A312,000), with a further £30,000 still being investigated.
Sorrell was forced out of the company he founded in April last year amid speculation of financial impropriety and allegations he’d used company credit cards to pay for prostitutes. A claim Sorell has “unreservedly” denied.
However, a review of his claims found he charged the firm for skiing trips, his child’s travel expenses and items for his luxury apartment in New York.
The article reported that in 2016, WPP paid Sorrell a salary of $A66.4 million from before accepting a dramatic pay cut to $19.2 million the following year.
An unknown source told the Wall Street Journal that WPP contacted Sorrell last year over the expenses because “the company wanted the accounts settled”.
The source added: “We can confirm that an amount has already been received and we have an ongoing dialogue regarding further sums.”
A spokesman for Sorrell told the UK’s The Times: “All Sir Martin’s expenses were regularly scrutinised and approved by WPP management, the audit committee and the board, and were audited annually.”
Ever since Sorrell’s ignominious departure almost 12 months ago the two parties have regularly traded public barbs.
Late last week, Sorrell used another media interview to say he was very “concerned” about where WPP was heading under new CEO Mark Read.
However, he tempered the jibe by adding his concerns were of a personal nature. “I remain a shareholder, and I think I’m the largest individual shareholder or a top 10 shareholder, in WPP so I’m very concerned about the progress that WPP makes too.
“Obviously it’s not been an easy period over the last six months or so in terms of major clients at WPP but having said that we’re very focused on that progress,” he said.
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