WPP's boss Sorrell sees off revolt over his 43 mln pound pay

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LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - Martin Sorrell, the boss of the world's biggest advertising group WPP (LSE: WPP.L - news) , saw off another shareholder revolt over his pay, when only 22 percent of investors refused to back his 43 million pound ($65.73 million) package at the company's annual meeting on Tuesday.

Sorrell, who built up WPP from nothing in 1986 into one of Britain's best known companies with 179,000 employees in 111 countries, has clashed repeatedly with investors over his pay in the past few years.

But the number of investors objecting has decreased over time. Nearly 60 percent of shareholders rejected his pay package in 2012 and 30 percent last year.

Investors have been split on the issue, with many saying that while the figure is excessive, they accept that Sorrell has been responsible for building WPP into the company it is today.

"There is no doubt that Martin Sorrell is a successful CEO who has created value for shareholders, but sometimes investors need to ask themselves 'when is enough, enough?" Ashley Hamilton Claxton, corporate governance manager at shareholder Royal London Asset Management, said.

"In our view, 43 million pounds is more than enough."

The group, which has media buying agency GroupM and ad agencies Ogilvy & Mather and JWT in its stable, has defended the pay award, saying more than 90 percent was linked to the company's performance.

Addressing the issue of performance head on at the annual meeting in central London, Sorrell said any shareholder who invested 1,000 pounds 20 years ago would now have a holding worth 15,831 pounds today.

The same investment in a basket of its peers Omnicom , Publicis (Paris: FR0000130577 - news) , Havas (Other OTC: HAVSF - news) and IPG, would be nearer 8,590 pounds, he said.

A WPP spokesman said WPP noted it had achieved a total return for shareholders of 171.5 percent in the last five years, against a 21.3 percent rise in the FTSE 100 index of blue chip stocks over the same period.

Several shareholder advisory groups such as PIRC had advised shareholders to vote against the remuneration package.

($1 = 0.6542 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton and Jane Merriman)