Study Reveals Top UK CEOs Earn More Annually Than Average Workers Do Over Entire Lifetime
In 2023, the leaders of the largest companies in Britain received their highest compensation ever, as reported by the think tank High Pay Centre. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
In 2023, the median compensation for chief executives of FTSE 100 companies reached $5.3 million, according to a think tank.
The pay for leaders of the UK’s largest firms has soared to a record high, surpassing the earnings of the median full-time worker in the country by 120 times, as shown in a new study.
The High Pay Centre, a UK think tank that examines the causes and effects of economic inequality, reported that the median salary for FTSE 100 CEOs was £4.19 million ($5.34 million) this year. This marks the highest recorded median executive pay and represents a 2.2% increase from 2022. In comparison, the median annual earnings for full-time workers in the UK were £34,963 last year. Notably, the annual pay for UK executives exceeds the lifetime earnings of the average worker.
Additionally, the number of FTSE 100 companies that offered pay packages exceeding £10 million more than doubled, increasing from four firms in 2022 to nine in 2023.
The report highlighted that the highest-paid FTSE 100 chief executive was AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot, who maintained his top position for the second consecutive year, earning £16.85 million in 2023, up from £15.3 million in 2022. This amount is 482 times what the median UK full-time worker earns.
The researchers contend that the extravagant compensation for top earners at leading firms hampers the ability to provide pay raises for the broader UK workforce.
“The huge pay gap between executives and the wider UK workforce is a result of factors such as the decline of trade union membership, low levels of worker participation in business decision-making and a business culture that puts the interests of investors before workers, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders,” stated Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre.
“These developments have been very good for those at the top but it is more questionable whether they are in the interests of the country as a whole,” he emphasized.
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
The pay for leaders of the UK’s largest firms has soared to a record high, surpassing the earnings of the median full-time worker in the country by 120 times, as shown in a new study.
The High Pay Centre, a UK think tank that examines the causes and effects of economic inequality, reported that the median salary for FTSE 100 CEOs was £4.19 million ($5.34 million) this year. This marks the highest recorded median executive pay and represents a 2.2% increase from 2022. In comparison, the median annual earnings for full-time workers in the UK were £34,963 last year. Notably, the annual pay for UK executives exceeds the lifetime earnings of the average worker.
Additionally, the number of FTSE 100 companies that offered pay packages exceeding £10 million more than doubled, increasing from four firms in 2022 to nine in 2023.
The report highlighted that the highest-paid FTSE 100 chief executive was AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot, who maintained his top position for the second consecutive year, earning £16.85 million in 2023, up from £15.3 million in 2022. This amount is 482 times what the median UK full-time worker earns.
The researchers contend that the extravagant compensation for top earners at leading firms hampers the ability to provide pay raises for the broader UK workforce.
“The huge pay gap between executives and the wider UK workforce is a result of factors such as the decline of trade union membership, low levels of worker participation in business decision-making and a business culture that puts the interests of investors before workers, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders,” stated Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre.
“These developments have been very good for those at the top but it is more questionable whether they are in the interests of the country as a whole,” he emphasized.
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
