Executive excess


It took Britain’s highest paid chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, less than 45 minutes to earn what an average UK worker earns over an entire year, according to a new TUC analysis of FTSE 100 directors’ pay.


The study shows that Sorrell’s salary in 2015 was the equivalent of £38,437 an hour. His annual salary could have paid the wages for 2,218 nurses, 1,920 paramedics, or 4,479 teaching assistants.


The TUC’s analysis also reveals: that the median total pay (excluding pensions) of top FTSE 100 directors increased by 47% between 2010 and 2015, to £3.4 million. By contrast, average wages for workers rose just 7% over the same period and are still way down in real terms on the pre-crash level.


And the TUC says the average FTSE 100 boss earned 123 times the average full-time salary in 2015; the multiple was 89 in 2010.


The TUC says the findings highlight why prime minister Theresa May must deliver on her promise to tackle executive pay, by putting workers on company boards and remuneration committees.


https://www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/britain-needs-pay-rise/corporate-governance/uk%E2%80%99s-highest-paid-ceo-earns-average