Lord Clive Hollick of Notting Hill is astonished, some say, emotionally scarred, at the avalanche of shareholder hostility to his £250,000 ($459.2k; €363.58k) bonus for the arduous and stressful business of handing over the reins to his successor.
The former chief executive of United Business Media has therefore decided not to accept the company's extraordinary largesse - something of an about-turn, having told investors at last week's annual meeting: "You can rest assured that if I hadn't felt I'd earned it I wouldn't have accepted it."
But according to sources close to the Labour peer, he has since become "uncomfortable" about accepting the handout.
Well-meaning friends may have pointed out that in Hollick's new job as European managing director of US corporate raider Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, it would be inadvisable to upset the City of London establishment, some of whose biggest guns vociferously opposed his bonus.
Noblesse accordingly obliged. "I would like to thank the board of UBM for the bonus they awarded me for a successful handover and for significantly increasing shareholder value during the six-month transition period," modestly quoth His Lordship.
"The majority of shareholders have however now expressed their disapproval of the bonus and I have accordingly asked the company not to pay it. The company has agreed not to pay it."
Data sourced from Telegraph.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff
