BART Becht, the Dutchman at the helm of Mr Sheen polish company Reckitt Benckiser, has emerged as one of the highest paid executives in the FTSE 100 with a pay, bonus and share option deal of over £22 million.
Becht, who took the reins of the British-Dutch household products firm in 1999, will challenge Barclays bank director Bob Diamond for a position at the top of the 2006 executive pay league.
Becht, who is credited with transforming the troubled gr
oup into one of the strongest performers in the FTSE 100, rarely gives interviews and keeps a low profile. But, the company's annual report suggests that he will find it difficult to avoid the limelight.
The report shows that Becht's basic salary was £877,000 and that he received a cash bonus of £2.7m, which helped to boost his take-home pay for 2006 to £4m. But the total rises sharply if gains on share options and other share schemes put in place in previous years are added in.
He exercised share options worth £10.3m and made £7.9m from a long-term performance share scheme. The report shows that the company also pays schools fees and the cost of preparing tax returns for Becht.
The company pointed out that the gains he made on his share options, after tax, were transferred to a charitable trust while he retained most of the shares he exercised, after paying his tax bill.
Diamond received £22m - including a £10.7m cash bonus - in 2006 and boosted his total to £27m, if £5.7m of gains on share options are included.
