Tom Cross the $1m a day man as Parkmead shares soar 500%

THE breathtaking wages earned by likes of Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez have been put in the shade by gains made by former Dana Petroleum boss Tom Cross since he took on his new job.

In just 20 days since he was named executive chairman of stock market tiddler Parkmead, Cross has seen the value of his family's stake in the firm rise by a staggering 710,000 a day.

Investor frenzy over Parkmead's shares have seen them rise by more than 500 per cent, taking the value of the stake held in the company by Cross and his wife Linda from 3.2 million to 17.4m. Their daily profit equates to more than $1m a day.

Cross formally took up his role at investment and advisory group Parkmead yesterday, sending shares in the company surging to their highest ever level.

The oil baron turned a 1 million investment in Dana into a 1.8 billion company when it was recently sold to South Korea's state oil firm and investors have piled in to Parkmead in the hope he will deliver similar dramatic success.

Yesterday the shares, quoted on the Alternative Investment Market, rose a further 9.33 per cent to close at 10.25p after the company announced that Cross had begun work.

Parkmead also announced that it had become a member of the Association of British Independent Oil Exploration Companies (Brindex), which supports independent exploration and production companies working in the UK and across the world.

The move is part of Cross's ambitions to replicate his success at Dana by transforming Parkmead from an investment and advisory business to one with significant exploration and production interests.

He believes the group is well placed to apply for licences because it already advises many governments and oil companies worldwide.

Cross paid tribute to the work done by outgoing chairman Colin Goodall to prepare the company for a strong future.

He said: "I would like to thank Colin for the important role he has played in positioning Parkmead.

"This platform is key as we look to grow from the current investment and advisory business and build upon this with a portfolio of exploration and production assets."

More than 100 former Dana Petroleum shareholders are said to be keen to follow Cross and take stakes in Parkmead which is registered in London but has a heavy presence in Aberdeen.

The dramatic share price gains means other directors at the company have made handsome returns after they upped their existing stakes in the company in June 2009.

The board members, including outgoing chairman Goodall and chief executive Niall Doran as well as Cross, bought a total of 22 million shares at just 1p each.Other shareholders in the company include Professor Alex Kemp of Aberdeen University who founded oil consultancy Aupec which Parkmead acquired in 2009.

Cross already stands to gain more than 40m from the sale of his shares in Dana, with the final figure potentially higher depending on how the share options he holds in the company are dealt with.