A BBC reporter asked this chief exec to justify his £75m bonus and it’s brilliant TV (and utterly outrageous)
Expect this to be the most talked-about clip of the day. It’s Jeff Fairburn, chief executive of house builder Persimmon, being asked about his £75m – that’s right – £75m bonus on BBC regional TV.
This is what happened next.
Asked Jeff Fairburn, CEO of Persimmon Homes about his £75m bonus today. This was his response…. @BBCLookNorth pic.twitter.com/eJraBv1e8i
— Spencer Stokes (@spencerstokestv) October 18, 2018
Utterly outrageous and speaks volumes about him, his company, and the way big business operates.
This is what Fairburn told BBC reporter Spencer Stokes after he asked him about the £75m bonus.
‘I, er … I’d rather not talk about that, it’s been well covered. I think that’s really unfortunate actually that you’ve done that.’
Except it turned out the person it was most unfortunate for is Fairburn after the clip went wildly viral today. Here are just a few of the things people are saying about it.
1.
Thoroughly recommend studying the facial expressions of a housebuilder not knowing how to justify his £75m bonus. https://t.co/blZ3oyy1E0
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) October 18, 2018
2.
“I think that’s really unfortunate that you’ve done that” – Jeff Fairburn reveals a lot about ethics by how he spoke to a correspondent doing his job. Well done Spencer. https://t.co/5lt3cTpygk
— Samira Ahmed (@SamiraAhmedUK) October 19, 2018
3.
Huge respect to Spencer for going there. This clip
> deserves to go viral
> casts Fairburn in a very poor light
> illustrates the unforgivable and daily abuse of the word “unfortunate”. The relevant fortune here isn’t Spencer’s luck; it’s the £75m bonus!
Well done @BBCLookNorth https://t.co/JJ8g2ZfpHk— Amol Rajan (@amolrajan) October 19, 2018
4.
“I think it’s really unfortunate that you’ve done that” says the CEO to the interviewer when asked about his £75m bonus…at the same time as his refusal to answer means this clip goes viral. Unfortunate indeed. https://t.co/P9jvR0B0d7
— Tim Johns (@timoncheese) October 19, 2018
5.
Pathetic when CEOs abdicate their responsibility like this. If you can't deal with questions about your £75m bonus, even if you're tired of being asked about it, do you really have the temperament for a public-facing job. https://t.co/SUkHxRTBUt
— Rob Davies (@ByRobDavies) October 18, 2018
6.
To be fair, we’ve all probably become a little tongue tied when asked about our £75 million bonus. https://t.co/vl61rCOvuc
— Terence Dackombe (@SirTerence) October 19, 2018
7.
This is nothing short of absolutely solid gold telly. https://t.co/jargWV0Nrs
— Callum May (@callummay) October 18, 2018
8.
https://twitter.com/mrdanwalker/status/1053176573900275712
