FTSE pay hits fresh record as bosses push for US-style deals
Nearly half of voting investors rejected proposals to pay the boss of FTSE 100 medical device maker Smith & Nephew $11.8m (£9.5m) last year. David Schwimmer, the boss of the London Stock Exchange Group, also faced a revolt over plans to raise his pay from £5.1m to £7.8m, with almost a third of investors rejecting the plans.
Peter Dilnot, the chief executive of Melrose Industries, was the highest-paid FTSE 100 boss last year, with a pay packet worth £45.4m.
Omar Abbosh, the chief executive of Pearson, was the second-highest-paid executive after he was handed a £13m 'golden hello' when he took over from his predecessor, Andy Bird.
Sir Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of AstraZeneca, was the third-highest-paid FTSE 100 chief, with a total package worth almost £15m in 2024-25.
AstraZeneca was also hit by a rebellion over executive pay last year after proxy advisers, including Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, recommended shareholders reject Mr Soriot's 'excessive' remuneration package.
Sir Pascal has in the past been the highest-paid executive on the FTSE 100 and has earned around £150m since taking charge of AstraZeneca in 2012. He is said to have privately contemplated shifting the company to the US amid frustrations with Britain.
Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre, said: 'The contrast between the multi-million-pound pay awards for the chief executives of Britain's biggest corporations and the wider economic uncertainty and social division across the country is really stark.
'These figures will feed a growing sense that low and middle-earners don't get a fair share of the wealth that their work helps to create, while those at the top take much more than they merit or need.'
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