AstraZeneca's £4.4m package for former boss David Brennan

AstraZeneca paid its former chief executive David Brennan up to £4.4m on top of his pension pot totalling £14m, it emerged yesterday.

However, Mr Brennan, who quit after growing pressure on him from shareholders, waived his bonus for the first five months of 2012 following his sudden departure after poor sales and setbacks with its pipeline of new drugs.

The company released figures in its annual report showing Mr Brennan got a lump sum of £914,122 as part of his notice period plus a share award of £1.5m for 2010 and a potential £2m more depending on previous share awards' performance.

The report said his £14m pension pot, which was accrued over his 36 years at the company, would pay him around £970,000 a year.

Mr Brennan has said that the decision on his departure in April had been made "totally" by himself.

However, shareholders had pushed for his departure in what was a key moment of the so-called "shareholder spring".