BT unveils Worldpay boss Philip Jansen as new CEO

He will assume his role on February 1 and will be paid a £1.1 million salary

BT Group has confirmed today (Oct 25) Worldpay chief Philip Jansen will be its new CEO as it seeks to improve company performance.

Jansen will take the reins at a time when the telecoms giant said a change in leadership was necessary. He will be paid £1.1 million, £100,000 more than outgoing CEO Gavin Patterson.

Additionally Jansen will see a yearly bonus of 240 per cent of his salary subject to company performance.  He will also join a long-term share incentive plan worth 400 per cent of his salary.

He will step down as co-CEO at global payment services firm Worldpay – which handles card, online and phone payments for small firms – at the end of the year. He will take over from Patterson on February 1 but will be made an executive director at the start of next year.

Jansen has been at the helm of Worldpay since 2013 leading it through its flotation in 2015, until its merger with Vantiv in 2018. Worldpay is currently valued at £28 billion valued firm.

He will take over a firm that has seen shares hit a six-year low after numerous damaging moments during Paterson’s leadership, which began on 2013.

BT has been under-fire for not investing enough in its broadband network and faced a £500m accounting scandal in 2017. Around 13,000 jobs were cut earlier this year but the firm failed to meet its target sin May which then lead to the hit in share prices.

Jansen also faces an IT underperforming IT services unit is underperforming, a huge pension deficit, criticism of broadband roll-out plans.

BT Group chairman Jan du Plessis commenting on Philip’s appointment said: “He is a proven leader with outstanding experience in managing large complex businesses. Philip’s strong leadership has inspired his teams, successfully transformed businesses across multiple industries and created significant value for shareholders”.