- Publicity-shy boss will bag over £12m in share awards as earnings near £200m
- Engstrom has been paid £126m since taking over Relx in November 2009
- In that time, the shares have risen 750%
The publicity-shy boss of a Footsie data and publishing giant will bag over £12m in share awards next month as his earnings head towards £200m.
Erik Engstrom has been paid £126m since taking over Relx when it was still known as Reed Elsevier in November 2009.
In that time, the shares have risen 750 per cent as the Swedish businessman transformed it into the fifth largest company on the London stock market with a value of £73billion.
Relx is worth more than oil major BP and is around twice the value of defence giant BAE Systems and bank NatWest.
The company’s success has proved hugely lucrative for Engstrom, 61, who already owns around 1.2m shares worth approximately £46m.
Based on market prices, the London-based executive could bag a further £48m of shares over the next two years in long-term bonuses.
Some £12.2m of those shares are due to vest in February.
Shareholders have done well under Engstrom and on February 13 he is expected to unveil strong annual results. Analysts believe that Relx will say that its profits rose 19 per cent to £2.7billion last year as revenues climbed from £9.2billion to £9.5billion.
As a result, they forecast a hike in the full-year dividend from 58.6p to 62.5p per share, which would take the total payout for the 2024 financial year to £1.2billion. A source close to the company said that given the job he has done, investors were happy for Engstrom to be among the best-paid executives in the country.
‘Under his tenure he’s added £60billion in value,’ the source said.
‘Look at the remuneration vote at last year’s annual meeting – no one complained.’
Fund manager Nick Train, co-founder of investment group Lindsell Train and a top ten Relx shareholder, described it as an ‘outstanding multi-decade investment’ and predicts further growth from the firm.
‘Scientists, lawyers and risk consultants around the world are increasingly reliant on Relx’s data,’ he said.
‘It is a trusted provider of AI-enhanced services to those communities. It is noteworthy that its market capitalisation is now higher than BP’s. Perhaps data really is the new oil.’
When Engstrom succeeded Ian Smith, whose tenure lasted eight months and was ended by ‘mutual consent’, Reed Elsevier had four businesses: scientific and medical information; conferences and exhibitions; the Lexis Nexis legal and risk management business; and its trade magazine publishing arm.
Engstrom rebranded the company as Relx, sold businesses like its business-to-business magazines arm and focused on providing risk management and analytical tools to doctors, lawyers, bankers and other professionals. At the same time, he invested heavily in technology such as artificial intelligence to keep the company and its products relevant.
It still owns medical magazine The Lancet and it runs events such as comic book convention Comic Con where fans dress up as superheroes.
DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS
AJ Bell
AJ Bell
Easy investing and ready-made portfolios
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown
Free fund dealing and investment ideas
interactive investor
interactive investor
Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month
Saxo
Saxo
Get £200 back in trading fees
Trading 212
Trading 212
Free dealing and no account fee
Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.
Compare the best investing account for you
