Average fats cat FTSE 100 boss to earn extra by noon in the present day than typical employee all 12 months
An annual snapshot has revealed the average FTSE 100 company CEO earns about 113 times what a typical UK worker does, meaning they make more in the first three days of the year than most see all year
The average fat cat boss of a FTSE 100 company will have raked in more by midday today than a typical worker can expect all year.
Analysis by think tank the High Pay Centre found a chief executive running one of Britain’s biggest listed companies pocketed about £4.4million in pay and perks last year. That was up from £4.22million in 2024.
As with last year, the data suggests that CEOs will have to do fewer than three working days of 2026 to surpass the annual pay of the average worker in the UK. The median average of £4.4million for a FTSE 100 big cheese is 113 times that of full time worker’s pay of £39,039.
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The analysis, which is released around now every year, comes after the Employment Rights Act received Royal assent last month. The new law includes measures promising to give trade unions reasonable access to workplaces to speak to workers and requiring employers to inform new employees of their right to join a union.
According to the High Pay Centre, the decline in trade union membership is widely recognised to have been a key factor in rising boardroom to worker pay gaps, and worsening inequality that has occurred in the UK and across other Western countries since the 1980s. Its Charter for Fair Pay, published just over a year ago, called for the effective implementation of the Employment Rights Bill as well as further measures giving workers more of a voice in the running of companies.
Andrew Speke, the High Pay Centre interim director, said: “The figures out today once again emphasise the huge gulf in how the work of most people is valued compared to a small number of feted executives. The idea that executives, as a class, are individually contributing over 100 times more in value than the workers they rely on is simply not credible.
“The government’s Employment Rights Bill could have a positive impact on reducing the inequality of pay and worker voice in the UK economy, but it must be accompanied by bolder corporate governance reform, including democratic worker representation on all major company boards. We are also calling for companies that pay excessive sums to their highest earners to be taxed more, with the proceeds invested in education, helping to tackle deep-rooted inequalities and improve social mobility.”
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Every working person helps create Britain’s wealth. But while millions of low and middle-income workers are still struggling with the cost of living, those at the very top keep helping themselves to a huge slice of the pie. Labour’s Employment Rights Act will bring in sensible reforms to improve working lives for millions of people.
“But we also need a dose of common sense when it comes to corporate excess. The government must act to rein in boardroom greed – including by guaranteeing workers a seat on executive pay committees.”
A spokesperson for the GMB union, said: “Workers are still struggling with the cost of living crisis – and wages are only just starting to grow again. But fat cats are still creaming it in. That’s why the Workers’ Rights Act is so crucial: to give workers a level playing field to get the pay they deserve.”
Best paid FTSE CEOs
- Peter Dilnot, Melrose £45.4m
- Andy Bird/Omar Abbosh, Pearson £18.9million
- Pascal Soriot, Astrazeneca £14.7million
- Damian Gammell, Coca-Cola Europacific £13.9million
- Erik Engstrom, Relx £13.5million
- Simon Borrows, 3I £11.9million
- Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems £11.7million
- Noel Quinn/Georges Elhedery, HSBC £11million
- Bill Winters, Standard Chartered £10.6million
- Brian Cassin, Experian £10.5million.
