Deliveroo boss’s £106m jackpot now worth just £33m after shares slump

Deliveroo founder Will Shu was given a massive bonus worth more than £100million when his company floated on the London Stock Exchange 12 months ago.

The food delivery firm was valued at £7.6billion when it listed a year ago today, with its shares priced at 390p each.

Shu was handed 27m shares, worth almost £106million at the time of the initial public offering (IPO). 

IPO misery: Deliveroo founder Will Shu’s  bonus was worth more than £100m a year ago but is worth £33m now after shares slumped 70%

His total pay last year topped £106million once his pay and perks of £542,000 were included, according to yesterday’s annual report.

But the company was quickly branded ‘Flop-eroo’ as the share price tumbled. The slump means the shares Shu was handed are now worth just £33million, while his stake is valued at £141million.

The share price, which fell 3.9 per cent, or 4.9p to 120p yesterday, means it is valued at just £2.1billion. It has been dubbed ‘the worst IPO in London’s history’.

Before floating, Deliveroo hoped to be valued as high as £8.8billion, setting it up to be London’s biggest listing for a decade.

It was even endorsed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and has high- profile backers including Next chief executive Lord (Simon) Wolfson, who has a 0.2 per cent stake and is on the board.

But major investors stepped back, denouncing its working practices and governance, and when trading began shares crashed by as much as 31 per cent, leaving tens of thousands of small investors out of pocket.

And the slide has continued, with the shares dropping 70 per cent.

Shu’s bumper payout was revealed in Deliveroo’s annual report for 2021, another year of thumping losses. It lost £289million in 2021, more than its £213million loss in 2020. 

But sales grew 57 per cent from a year earlier to £1.8billion, while orders jumped 73 per cent to 300.6million.

Deliveroo is ploughing money into marketing and investment to expand its share of the cut-throat delivery market where it faces deep-pocketed competitors including Uber Eats, Just Eat, Getir and Gorillas.

In a letter to investors within the report, Shu said the listing was necessary as it raised £1billion to invest in growth.

‘Since the IPO, our share price performance has been poor and that’s disappointing to me not just because I’m the CEO, but because I’m the largest individual shareholder,’ he said. 

‘My interests are aligned with shareholders’ over the long term and I will continue to do my best to improve long-term shareholder value.’

Shu founded Deliveroo in 2013 in London. It operates in 11 countries, with over 180,000 riders.

BAE chief takes home ‘only’ £6m 

Top gun: BAE Systems boss Charles Woodburn

While delivering food has proved highly lucrative for Will Shu, running the country’s leading defence contractor while war rages in eastern Europe is less so.

However, BAE Systems boss Charles Woodburn took home £6.3million last year – his highest pay packet there.

Woodburn, 51, has now earned £20million since taking over in 2017. 

He pocketed £6.1million last year when he received a one-off payment to stop him from moving from BAE to miner Rio Tinto.

BAE stock is up by more than 20 per cent since the invasion of Ukraine in February. This has added around £4billion to BAE’s value.

Woodburn’s 2021 pay included a £2.4million bonus but fewer shares. Rewards were based on meeting targets he was set.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk