UK CEOs get record pay in 2023, research shows
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The median pay for a FTSE-100 company CEO rose 2.2 per cent to 4.19 million pounds in 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON - The chief executives of Britain’s biggest companies enjoyed record pay in 2023, with nine companies offering them packages of more than £10 million (S$16.9 million), research showed on Aug 12, even as British workers argue for higher wages.
The median pay for an FTSE-100 company CEO rose 2.2 per cent to £4.19 million in 2023, think-tank High Pay Centre said, though it added pay growth had slowed compared with the previous two years.
Median FTSE-100 CEO pay was 120 times that of the median full-time British worker, the research showed.
This comes as employees in Britain, such as train drivers and family doctors, take industrial action in 2024 over pay or conditions.
“The increase in average CEO pay reflects a small number of companies making really large pay awards rather than big increases across the board,” said Mr Luke Hildyard, director of High Pay Centre.
He added that Britain had “a business culture that puts the interests of investors before workers, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders”.
Executive compensation at Britain’s top companies has drawn shareholder anger in recent years, with most critical of the gap between average worker earnings and CEO pay.
But some British fund managers are backing calls to give boards more flexibility on paying top talent, to staunch a brain drain to countries where pay is less of a hot topic.
The highest-paid CEO of a British company was Mr Pascal Soriot of drugmaker AstraZeneca, who earned £16.85 million, the High Pay Centre said. Next was Mr Erik Engstrom of information and analytics group Relx, with £13.64 million, the research showed, using company financial disclosures. REUTERS
