Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

CoronavirusBonusesCompensationLatest NewsExecutive pay

Highest paid CEOs earned 86 times median wage in 2020

by Jo Faragher 19 Aug 2021
by Jo Faragher 19 Aug 2021 Pascal Soirot, CEO of AstraZeneca, earned £15.45m in 2020
ITAR-TASS News Agency / Alamy Stock Photo
Pascal Soirot, CEO of AstraZeneca, earned £15.45m in 2020
ITAR-TASS News Agency / Alamy Stock Photo

The median-earning FTSE 100 chief executive was paid £2.69 million in 2020, 86 times that of the median full-time worker in the UK, according to analysis by the High Pay Centre.

The highest paid was AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, who earned £14.45 million for his part in successfully delivering a coronavirus vaccine. The company has committed to delivering 1 billion doses for low and middle-income countries and is selling its vaccines for no profit.

Pay ratios and reviews

Where are companies required to publish their executive pay ratio?

How to conduct a pay review 

The second highest earning CEO was Brian Cassin of credit company Experian, who made £10.3 million.

The median FTSE 100 pay figure fell by 17% in 2020 compared with the £3.25 million median in 2019.

For the six companies with a female CEO, median pay for 2020 was £2.63 million, slightly below the male median of £2.8 million.

Across the nine companies monitored that used the government’s furlough scheme during the pandemic, the average CEO pay for 2020 was £2.39 million.

Two-thirds paid their CEO an annual bonus, down from 89% in 2019. More than three-quarters (77%) paid out ‘long-term incentive plans’, however, based on the executives’ performance over the previous three to five years.

The size of bonuses shrunk over the period, from £1.1 million in 2019 to £828,000. Average long-term incentive plan pay-outs fell from £2.4 million to £1.38 million.

Listed companies with more than 250 employees must publish executive pay ratios as part of the Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations, introduced by Theresa May in 2018. This must show the ratio between total CEO pay (including pensions, bonuses and shares) and median pay at the 75th and 25th percentile of employees.

According to the High Pay Centre’s research, 82 FTSE 100 companies disclosed their pay ratios in 2020 – a number did not as they have limited operations in the UK with fewer than 250 staff.

In 2020, the company with the highest CEO to median employee ratio was Ocado, with a ratio of 312:1.

Authors Rachel Kay and Luke Hildegard said the latest findings reflected the “wider gap between the rich and poor in the UK than in most other European countries”.

“The inequalities exposed by the pandemic and the volume of public money used to protect large businesses could strengthen the argument for measures to contain top pay and rebalance extreme income differences,” they said.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“​​Therefore, despite the reductions in CEO pay this year, addressing the issue of excessive top earnings should remain a critical part of efforts to ‘level up’, ‘build back better’ and other clichés sloganising the objective – shared by all parts of the political spectrum – to tackle inequality and raise incomes for low and middle earners.”

Reward, compensation and benefits opportunities


Browse all comp and benefits jobs

Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. Jo is also the author of 'Good Work, Great Technology', published in 2022 by Clink Street Publishing, charting the relationship between effective workplace technology and productive and happy employees. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
Digital bank Revolut to offer early wage access
next post
Could we see Google-style pay cuts in the UK?

You may also like

Restaurant tips should be included in holiday pay

21 May 2025

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Redefining leadership: From competence to inclusion

21 May 2025

Pay awards in real terms could fall for...

21 May 2025

Ryanair demands flight attendants pay back salary increase

21 May 2025

Consultation launched after Supreme Court ‘sex’ ruling

20 May 2025

Uncertainty over law hampering legal use of medical...

20 May 2025

Black security manager awarded £360k after decade of...

20 May 2025

Employers ‘worryingly’ ignorant about stress risk assessments

20 May 2025

UK and EU agree to collaborate on ‘youth...

19 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+