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Burberry CEO and Creative Director Christopher Bailey just sold almost half of his stock in the company, which translates to roughly $8.6 million. Bailey was brought on a few months ago to replace Angela Ahrendts (who left for Apple), and it didn't take long for the company's shareholders to express their frustration over the major stock payout that was included in his pay package. (53% of them were vocally against it, though nothing came of it at the time.)
When tensions began to rise, Business of Fashion EIC Imran Amed published an op-ed that asked: "What is Christopher Bailey Really Worth to Burberry?" In it, he urged Bailey to fork over some of those shares. A previous Racked article explains:
According to Amed, when Bailey was asked if he'd give up some of his stock payout to soothe shareholders, he said that "it's not about giving something up," indicating that he has no plans to back down on his pay package. At this point Amed put his two cents in, basically telling Bailey to just give up his money already.The brand hasn't released a statement yet, but it looks Bailey may have found it easier to comply with the bigwigs.
· Whoa, Christopher Bailey Just Sold £5 Million of His Burberry Stock [The Cut]
· Burberry's Shareholders Are Revolting Against Their CEO [Racked]
· How One Fashion CEO Will Make Over Every Apple Store [Racked]