No wonder JP is cackling. Even though he’s had a testy relationship with investors over his pay, he was granted options that could yield up to nearly $5 million long after he retires next month, The Times of London reports. JP was granted options last year after saying in 2006 that he planned to retire. But the options won’t pay out until the end of the 2009-2010 financial year, even though any improvement in the share price will be on the watch of Andrew Witty, who is about to succeed JP.

Back in 2002, soon after he joined the company, JP angered investors over an incentive scheme that could have paid him $18 million, the Times reminds us, adding that the package so infuriated investors that they voted it down at the annual meeting. At the eleventh hour, the plan was scrapped to appease enraged investors, given Glaxo’s poor stock price since the 2000 merger with SmithKlineBeecham.

A Glaso spokesman confirmed to the Times that JP’s options were granted last year, but none this year. “JP will keep options and share awards granted up to the end of 2007, which are subject to performance criteria,” the spokesman tells the paper. JP has amassed a pension worth about $16 million and holds about $12 million in Glaxo shares, the paper adds.

Given Glaxo travails - the thinning pipeline, the poor stock performance (especially over the past two years) and the scandal over Paxil clinical trial data - what do you think?

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