By Priyanka Deshpande
CNBC-TV18.com
Published August 12, 2024
The High Pay Centre has published an analysis of UK CEO compensation for 2023, revealing that CEO pay in FTSE 100 companies has reached an all-time high. Here are some of the key findings from the report:
In 2023, the median pay for a CEO in the FTSE 100 was £4.19 million, marking the highest level on record. This represents a 2.2% increase from the 2022 median CEO pay, which was £4.1 million.
The median FTSE 100 CEO pay of £4.19 million is 120 times the median earnings of a full-time UK worker, which stood at £34,963. This ratio shows a slight decrease from the previous year’s 124:1 ratio.
The average pay for FTSE 100 CEOs rose to £4.98 million in 2023, a 12.2% increase from the £4.44 million reported in 2022, marking the highest level since 2017.
The top-paid CEO in the FTSE 100 earned £16.85 million at AstraZeneca, a sum that is 482 times the median earnings of a full-time UK worker.
In 2023, nine FTSE 100 CEOs earned over £10 million each, up from just four CEOs in 2022.
In 2023, 93% of FTSE 100 companies awarded a bonus to their CEO, down from 96% in 2022. Despite this decrease, the average bonus payment rose from £1.407 million in 2022 to £1.483 million in 2023.
In 2023, 81% of FTSE 100 companies provided their CEO with a Long Term Incentive Payment (LTIP), up from 74% in 2022. The average LTIP payment also rose, increasing from £1.791 million in 2022 to £2.058 million in 2023.
A total of £755 million was allocated to the compensation of 222 executives across the FTSE 100.
In 2023, the median total expenditure on executive pay, including CEOs and other executives, for FTSE 100 companies was £6.43 million.
12 female CEOs served at least part of the year, with eight remaining at year-end. Only six companies had female CEOs for the entire year, with a median pay of £2.69 million.
For companies with a male CEO throughout the financial year, the median pay was £4.19 million, matching the overall median pay for the FTSE 100.