14 DAY TRIAL // Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts was supposed to be on Apple’s payroll by now, but sources familiar with the situation say she’s sticking around for a little while more to cash in on a multi-million-pound bonus that even she can’t say no to.
Although The Guardian doesn’t cite anyone in particular as handing over this information, the paper confidently reports that “Ahrendts is free to leave Burberry this month,” but she will be staying on until mid-2014 “to smooth a handover to her successor Christopher Bailey,” the chief creative officer of the British fashion house.
That’s just one of the reported reasons, though. Another one (and likely the primary cause for the delay in her departure) is money.
According to the report, if she stays with Burberry until June 6, Ahrendts will be eligible to collect “two multimillion pound share bonuses relating to performance over the last few years.”
The exact sum of cash is a reported £8M ($13.4M / €9.7M), which is certainly nothing to pass on even for a wealthy CEO. The paper also notes that Ahrendts wants to leave as soon as possible, and that she is “wrangling” both with Burberry and her upcoming employers over the compensation.
In other words, if Apple can produce the money today, she’ll be moving into her new office tomorrow. While it may sound like it’s all about money, surely many people in Ahrendts’ position would do the same.
Rahul Sharma, an analyst at Neev Capital, agrees with this thinking: “It's a big sum of money. In some ways it would be good to see the business moving on after six months of handover time. You want to see clarity.”
Burberry recently revealed its latest earnings report in which Ahrendts is quoted as saying that “the management transition [is] well underway.”
“We are pleased with our second half performance, with total revenue up 19% and retail sales up 13%, underpinned by the planned increase in investment in offline and online retail, innovative customer service and marketing,” she said.
“With the management transition well underway, Burberry begins a new year with Beauty firmly established as the fifth product division and investment in flagship markets, such as Shanghai, further increasing the brand’s appeal to the core luxury customer at home and when travelling.”
“While current exchange rates are a material headwind in what remains an uncertain macro environment, our continued global brand momentum provides an excellent foundation for the future,” the Burberry CEO concluded.
Ahrendts will be joining Apple as a senior vice president and member of the executive team, reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook.