Retiring Sage boss in line for £150m
Graham Wylie, UK managing director and co-founder of Sage, will retire at the end of next month and walk away with a fortune worth almost £150m.
Link: Sage chief retires but first half expectations met
The largest individual shareholder of the software giant announced his retirement at the end of a highly successful week. Sage’s trading update on Friday surprised the City by stating first-half results would be in line with market expectations.
As a result, the company’s shares were the best-performing of the FTSE-100 and jumped almost 15p in a day. At the time Accountancy Age went to press, the price had dropped slightly to 132.25p.
‘The board would like to thank Graham Wylie for his substantial contribution to Sage’s success over the past 22 years,’ said Michael Jackson, chairman of Sage. Wylie will be replaced by Paul Stobart, the company’s current chief operating officer.
Wylie endured a rocky month at the company after his decision to sell over £7m worth of stock grabbed the attention of City regulator, the Financial Services Authority. UBS Warburg downgraded the company’s stock the day after his share sale, which would have knocked £800,000 off his £7.1m earnings. Following a phone call to Wylie, the FSA determined there had been no wrongdoing.
