John Wren
John Wren

Omnicom Group trimmed president/CEO John Wren's total compensation package 7.8 percent to $24M as the ad/PR conglom's 2017 revenues dropped 5.2 percent to $1.1B.

Despite the pay cut, OMC's board will give Wren the chairman title with the retirement of 88-year-old Bruce Crawford at the May 22 annual meeting at its New York headquarters.

The board decided it was "critical to the future success of the company" for Wren, 65, to serve as chair, according to OMC's proxy statement.

After extensive shareholder engagement, "the board learned that in light of our strong lead independent director [69-year-old former Major League Baseball advisor Leonard Coleman,] coupled with the complexity of our company and our business, shareholders were largely supportive of this board leadership structure."

The board decided "executive-level continuity in the CEO and chair roles is integral to supporting the transition of client relationships, which have been built on trust and support over the years."

Wren's total compensation is 596 times more than the $40,230 median comp of OMG's 99,296 workers.

The nearly 5,000 workers in Ukraine, Egypt, Indonesia, Thailand, Colombia, Malaysia and Mexico were excluded in the comparative comp calculation.