BT rewards top executives with outrageous bonus for failure

British telecom giant BT has come in for scathing criticism, when it was revealed yesterday that the company had given large bonuses to its top executives, even after the company posted a £134-million full year loss in the last financial year and axed another 15,000 jobs last week. (See: BT unveils £134 million loss; axes another 15,000 jobs)

The revelation came to light when the company published its annual report for the year yesterday, which had details of the bonuses paid to Francois Barrault, who led the telecoms giant's Global Services arm and was forced to resign in October after incurring huge losses.(See: BT's Global Services takes a hit of £340 million)

Ousted head of the telco's IT operations François Barrault received a total of £2.85 million, including a £1.6 million termination payment, despite massive write-downs at the business as the company discovered that most of the complex contracts that last several years were contracted with poor returns, where Barrault had sacrificed profit for growth.

Although the company attempted to block his termination payment and shares from the company's long-term incentive plan, its lawyers advised BT against doing so.

According to the annual report, Barrault received £1.25 million in salary and benefits such as his company car, home security, and dental cover for his family.

His pay package also included housing allowance, school and social club fees and as per the employment contract signed with the company, Barrault was to get £1.6 million as termination payment.