Burberry boss Christopher Bailey gets £5m from share sale... but critics call huge sum a 'slap in the face' to investors

By Rob Davies

Updated: 17:36 EDT, 21 August 2014

Creative guru: Burberry boss Christopher Bailey

Burberry's boss and creative guru Christopher Bailey has pocketed more than £5.2million after selling shares in the fashion house.

The huge sum was branded a ‘slap in the face’ to investors, who staged a revolt against his £28million pay deal earlier this year.

A stock market filing revealed that Bailey cashed in stock picked up from bonus schemes and sold a batch of other shares this week.

The sales raked in £5.2million, enough to buy nearly 5,000 of the upmarket label’s cotton gabardine trench coat, which commands a hefty price tag of £1,095.

In practice the windfall is worth more like £4million once tax has been taken into account.

‘It’s a bit of a slap in the face for shareholders who voted against his package,’ said Deborah Hargreaves, director of the High Pay Centre.

‘Also you wonder if he has long term faith in the business when he’s selling such a big chunk.’

Bailey took the top job at Burberry (down 7p to 1442p) earlier this year from Angela Ahrendts, who joined US technology giant Apple.

But he ran straight into controversy when a company report revealed he enjoyed a pay packet worth some £28million, including £20million in stock simply for staying with the firm for five years.

More than half of voting investors failed to back the pay deal for Bailey, whose elevation to the top of a FTSE 100 company raised eyebrows in the City of London.