Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks received a pay-off potentially worth more than £7m when she left the newspaper group last year.
Brooks resigned from the company on 15 July 2011, days after the it closed the News of the World in the wake of revelations that it hacked the voicemail messages of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
The Financial Times reports (£) that Brooks, who is due to face trial over the phone-hacking scandal next year, received a pay-off consisting of “cash and pension payments as well as an allowance for legal fees and the use of a chauffeur-driven car”.
It was also said to include “clawback clauses” described by sources as “substantial”.
The pay-off has come to light as parent company News Corp prepares to hold its annual general meeting.
Brooks and former News of the World editor Andy Coulson will face trial over allegations linked to phone hacking in September 2013
Brooks faces a charge of conspiring with others to intercept voicemail messages between October 3 2000 and August 9 2006, and is also accused in relation to Milly Dowler between April 9 and 21 2002, and Andrew Gilchrist between December 3 2002 and January 22 2002.
The 44-year-old is also accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice over allegations that she tried to conceal information from police investigating phone hacking and claims of corrupt payments to public officials at The Sun and the News of the World.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
