MARK THOMPSON, the newly appointed chief executive of the New York Times, stands to receive a pay package of $5 million (£3m) next year, it was revealed yesterday.
Thompson, outgoing director-general of the BBC, will receive a package that includes $1m in an annual base salary, plus bonuses and $3m in performance-based share options.
His compensation is similar to that of former New York Times chief executive Janet Robinson, except that Thompson will not take part in the company’s pension plan.
He will also receive up to $60,000 in relocation fees to New York from Oxford and $25,000 in legal fees connected with the employment agreement, the company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The New York Times named Thompson as its chief executive on Tuesday, ending an eight-month search. He starts in November.
The 55-year-old, who began his career at the corporation as a trainee, had announced in March that he was to step down from his role at the BBC. The appointment will bring to an end to Thompson’s colourful eight-year reign, where he reshaped the organisation for the digital age with the introduction of the hugely successful iPlayer and transferred vast tranches of programme-making away from London to Glasgow, Manchester and beyond.
However, he also incurred the wrath of unions after implementing a series of controversial cost-cutting measures which will see the BBC shed 2,000 jobs and a fifth of its budget by 2017.