The founder of the famous Glastonbury festival Michael Eavis, has come out and revealed his salary to the public.
As staff start gearing up for this summer’s festival, the Glastonbury’s organiser caught up with the Western Daily Mail.
Not only has he had the same car for fourteen years, he pay his cowman more than he pays himself, and he also gives very generously to charity.
In the interview he revealed that the event brings in an estimated €40 million, however Eavis’ salary is approximately €76,000 annually.
Eavis told the Western Daily Mail: “I get a wage of £60,000 [€76,000] but I pay more than that to my cowman. I am not going to buy a flashy car – I bought a Mini for my wife 14 years ago. I don’t really like going on holiday – I just have a little cottage in Cornwall.”
The Glasto founder gives a substantial amount of the profits from the festival to charity. “There is no money stashed anywhere. We do a lot on the charity side – we aim for £2 million [€2.5 million] a year. I like to go into the following year on the edge – I like that. I like the challenge. Yesterday, the girls said there is a quarter of a million left over. I said let’s get rid of it, send it on to the charity today.”
As for the future, the 79-year-old has no intention of calling it a day yet. “I am not slowing down at the moment because I enjoy myself so much and it works. My festival works and we have one million people waiting in the wings to buy tickets – one million waiting to get in. What a huge demand that is. I go for a cold water swim to get me going every morning. That is my secret.”
Asked about his daughter Emily Eavis taking over the running of the event, he said: “Emily is now 35. She didn’t really like it at the beginning – try and tell a three-year-old why 100,000 people are in her back garden. She didn’t understand it all at first.”
“She is working her way into the role but will decide whether she wants it. She is very cunning and very clever, but at the end of the day, does she want it? The role is very demanding – you are at everyone’s beck and call every day of your life.”
So far there have only been two acts announced for this year’s Glastonbury festival, Lionel Richie and the Dalai Lama.
