Sorrell paying the big bucks in divorce

It hasn’t been a good week for WPP CEO Martin Sorrell when it comes to women. First was the fallout sparked by WPP creative guru Neil French’s derogatory remarks about females in advertising. Now come the details about Sorrell’s divorce settlement. The very competitive Sorrell has always been keenly interested in WPP becoming the industry’s largest player, which it briefly was after the acquisition of Young & Rubicam in 2000. (WPP is currently No. 2, behind Omnicom.) But this is one situation in which being the biggest is a boast Sorrell probably would have preferred not to make: In what is said to be the most costly marital payout in U.K. history, Sorrell’s wife, Sandra, stands to receive $54 million in cash, property and other assets as they dissolve their 33-year union. Among some of the juicier details are the former Lady Sorrell’s receipt of two underground parking spaces at Harrod’s. The 24-page British High Court divorce document contains embarrassing revelations about a man who enjoys the perks and power of running an $11.6 billion global company: In his own Knightsbridge mansion, Sorrell was banished to living in the basement as his marriage broke down.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Photo: Graham Trott

October 25, 2005 in Martin Sorrell | Permalink