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Top FTSE 100 boss earned £47m last year

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
16/08/2018

The 10 highest earning FTSE 100 CEOs received a combined £200m in their pay packets last year.

CEO median pay rose by 11% between 2016 and 2017, taking average salaries to £3.93m, up from the £3.53m reported in the previous year.

According to the report from the High Pay Centre and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the highest paid CEO in the financial year ending 2017 was Jeff Fairburn of housebuilder Persimmon who received £47.1m. This is 22 times his 2016 pay.

In close second was Simon Peckham of industrial engineering firm Melrose Industries, who pocketed £42.7m last year. This figure is 43 times his previous year’s figure. Rob Perrins of housebuilder Berkeley Group came third after gaining £27.9m in 2017, up from the £10.9m reported in 2016.

The below also make it into the top 10 highest paid CEOs last year:

  • Jeremy Darroch of Sky – £16.3m, up from £4.6m in 2016
  • Martin Sorrell of WPP – £13.9m, down from £48m in 2016
  • Coca-Cola’s joint CEOs pay increased five-fold to £13.8m, with the majority going to Dimitris Lois who died during the financial year
  • Rakesh Kapoor of Reckitt Benckiser – £12.4m, down from £15.2m in 2016
  • Intertek’s Andre Lacroix’s pay packet more than doubled from £5.5m to £11.6m
  • Nicandro Durante of British American Tobacco – £11.4m, up from £8.3m in 2016
  • Bob Dudley of BP – £10.4m, up from £8.6m in 2016.

The strong performance of the stock market in the years to 2017 are likely to have been a factor in this year’s increase, according to the report. In total, the income received by CEOs working for FTSE 100 firms stood at £560.1m, with a mean annual package worth £5.7m a year.

In comparison, mean salaries for all workers in the UK have gone up by 2.5% to £29,009, which would equate to a total of 195 years to earn the mean FTSE 100 boss’ package.

TUC general Secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “Pay for most people is barely rising at all. So working people will find it hard to understand why fat cat executives are splashing the cash for themselves.

“Workers should get seats on boardroom pay committees to bring a bit of common sense to pay decisions. And the government should put the minimum wage up to £10 an hour to give more workers a fairer share of the wealth they create.”