How much money top CEOs earn in the UK

The High Pay Centre has published its annual review of CEO pay in the FTSE 100, showing how much top executives in the country earn.

The median FTSE 100 CEO pay was £4.58 million in the 2024/25 financial year. This is the highest level of median pay recorded by the High Pay Centre since companies were required to disclose a ‘single figure’ for CEO pay using a calculation mandated by regulation in 2013.

Mean FTSE 100 pay grew from £5.12 million to £5.91 million – a 15.4% increase and breaks the previous record of £5.79 million set in 2017/2018

The research shows that the median FTSE 100 CEO is now paid 122 times the median UK full-time worker, almost the same level as 123:1 in 2023/24

Other key findings include:

The number of FTSE 100 companies paying their CEOs £10 million or more increased by 30%, from 10 firms in 2023/24 to 13 firms in 2024/25.
FTSE 100 firms spent £1 billion on the pay of 217 executive roles. This represents an increase from £757 million in 2023/24; however, much of this increase reflects executive pay awards at Melrose Industries, where the executives were paid £212 million.
In 2024/25, 84% of FTSE 100 companies paid their CEO a Long Term Incentive Payment (LTIP), up from the 81% who did in 2023/24. The mean LTIP payment increased from £2,008k in 2023/24 to £2,258k in 2024/25.
In total, ten female CEOs served for at least part of the year, with all remaining in post at the end of the financial year. Nine companies had female leadership for the entire financial year, with their median pay amounting to £3.27 million.
For companies that had a male CEO for the whole financial year, the median pay was £4.64 million – slightly higher than the overall median pay for the FTSE 100.

It is important to note that the report does not provide a comprehensive insight into the pay of the very highest earners across the UK economy as a whole. Many FTSE 100 companies have limited operational presence in the UK beyond their London Stock Exchange listing. Conversely, some major UK employers are not included in the index due to private ownership or overseas listing.

However, the FTSE 100 index represents a consistent and accessible source of data on executive remuneration. The index does include many prominent UK employers whose CEO pay levels are a prominent benchmark for top pay levels across the wider economy, including within their organisations.