Burberry: CEO tipped for golden reward if fashion label makes FTSE 100 return
The new chief executive of Burberry could receive a hefty bonus if the fashion label’s shares surge and it re-enters the FTSE 100.
Joshua Schulman, who succeeded Jonathan Akeroyd as the CEO of Burberry in July last year, could be handed millions in bonuses and salary if he leads the company back to the London Stock Exchange’s blue chip index.
According to the brand’s annual report, Schulman would be in line to receive a bonus worth 300 per cent of his base £1.2m salary if the maximum target is achieved.
Burberry said it is a performance-based incentive with stretching performance targets measured over three years that has been “designed specifically to recruit Josh and align his interests with those of shareholders by incentivising him to deliver growth in our share price”.
It added that the performance targets for the award are directly linked to shareholder value creation and Burberry’s total shareholder return (TSR) performance.
The maximum target requires Burberry’s share price to more than double from the base price and “it is anticipated that this would result in Burberry re-entering the FTSE 100”.
Burberry added: “If this level of performance is attained, or exceeded, by the time the recruitment award vests, this would be evidence of the positive direction of the Burberry Forward strategy under Josh’s leadership.
“Based on a historic analysis of TSR performance for the FTSE 350 and our luxury peers, we expect that the TSR required to achieve the maximum vesting would represent upper decile performance.”
Schulman could also earn a maximum annual bonus of 200 per cent of his salary and an annual Burberry Share Plan (BSP) award of 162.5 per cent of his salary.
For the company’s current financial year, Burberry has handed its new CEO an annual bonus of £1.2m because of the “the excellent progress that Josh has made”.
He will be required to use half of his net bonus to acquire Burberry shares until he has invested 300 per cent of his salary.
Burberry’s share price struggles
Shares in Burberry were changing hands for 2,609p in April 2023 but suffered a protracted decline from then to a low of 592p in September last year.
The fall led to the brand being kicked out of the FTSE 100.
However, a sustained rise since then to 1,189p in February this year led Burberry to be in with a shout of re-entering the coveted index.
But its shares took a dive after that to 654p in April this year but have since started to recover and are now priced back above the 1,000p mark.
Earlier this month, Burberry revealed its revenue had fallen from £2.96bn to £2.46bn in the year to 29 March, 2025.
It also fell to a pre-tax loss of £66m for the year, having made a profit of £383m in the prior 12 months.
At the same time, the label told investors it plans to cut nearly a fifth of staff in the next two years which would total 1,700 jobs.
Pay packet designed to attract CEO from US
Writing in Burberry’s annual report, remuneration committee chair Danuta Gray said: “It was in our shareholders’ interests that the remuneration package we offered was sufficient and attractive enough to recruit a CEO of Josh’s calibre from the US talent market, while remaining within the structure of our shareholder‑approved directors’ remuneration policy and UK corporate governance expectations.
“In designing the remuneration package, the committee was also conscious that the luxury talent market for proven, high calibre leaders is small and that there are limited listed luxury companies globally, with many of our peers being privately owned organisations.”
She added: “In considering the approach for the FY 2024/25 bonus, the committee was mindful of the importance of recruiting a CEO who would be able to address the challenges facing Burberry and the need to incentivise them to achieve short-term actions in FY 2024/25 to navigate Burberry through these challenges and lay the foundations for future success.”