Reckitt Benckiser boss gets £90m pay and shares windfall

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Bart Becht, chief executive of the Cillit Bang and Vanish group, exercised share options worth more than £70 million and performance-based shares valued at £13 million built up over his tenure at the helm. He earned a pay and bonus package worth nearly £5 million last year.

Becht has decided to transfer nearly all of the stock options to a charitable trust, which supports organisations such as Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières. A small proportion of the shares will be sold to cover costs, but Becht will donate three million out of his 4.1 million in share options - worth more than £110 million.

FTSE 100-listed Reckitt's shares have outperformed the wider Footsie by three-and-a-half times and have beaten rivals such as Procter & Gamble's shares by 225% and L'Oreal's by 256%.

The group's annual report this week said the Dutch chief executive was paid a basic salary last year of just under £1 million and a bonus of £3.5 million and other benefits, including a pension contribution of nearly £400,000. He was also granted new share options worth more than £30 million for future years.

Becht became chief executive in 1999 when Reckitt & Colman merged with Benckiser. Since then, Reckitt's revenues have more than doubled, with earnings almost quadrupling.

It shrugged off the recession last year to post a 23% rise in annual profits to £1.89 billion and achieved an 8% rise in net revenues at constant exchange rates to £7.75 billion.

Reckitt's brands also include names such as Nurofen, Strepsils and French's mustard.