British billionaires are asking British companies to pay CEOs like soccer players, despite their boss making twice as many Premier League players
CEO continues to digest fall out In the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Johnson, billionaires supporters of major corporations believe wage increases are needed to attract them to their jobs.
Billionaire British financier Michael Spencer is unhappy with his belief that the UK CEO deserves to be paid at the same ballpark as the biggest Premier League stars like Kevin De Bruin and Erling Haaland.
“It’s okay to pay for football players, first-class soccer players, extraordinary amounts,” Spencer said. ft.
“For some reason, it’s considered to be perfectly acceptable. But if BP or HSBC CEOs make £20 million a year, which is significantly less than their American peer group, everyone jumps up and down by saying this is rage.”
He added: “The US celebrates the fact that great top executives make a ton of money. They want their CEO to be paid like a football star.”
Spencer’s argument is similar to that created in April by Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary. Spent soccer players paid to justify His potential 100 million euro bonus.
What about Spencer’s comments? CEOs are virtually already paid like British footballers
Many CEOs are already standard
The average FTSE 100 CEO won £4.2 million in 2023, ft According to the analysis, the average Premier League salary was £1.98 million for the same year.
It is more likely that Spencer suggests that CEOs should be paid at a level similar to the highest payments in the Premier League. But again, the numbers are comparable.
Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruin is considered the highest-paid player, earning a salary of around £400,000 a week, or £20 million a year. His earnings will likely be millions higher due to play-related bonuses and sponsorship deals.
Astrazeneca CEO Pascal Soriot won £16.85 million in 2023, becoming the highest-paid boss of the FTSE 100. In second place, Relx’s Erik Engstrom had a £13.64 million package, while Rolls Royce’s Terfan Erginbilic won £13.61 million.
The British boss has faced sudden resistance from investors to pay for the rise in recent years. Astrazeneca’s Soriot saw 38.5% of shareholders rejected plans to increase wages by £1.8 million in April.
Rajiv Jain, chief investment officer of top 20 shareholder GQG partners, said Soriot is “largely low wages” when compared to US drug CEOs.
Shareholders have been cautious about approving bumper salaries in an era of historically high inflation, and not so intense and difficult.
Meanwhile, supporters of pay rises say it is necessary to prevent the flight of businesses and talent from the UK. Several UK companies have chosen to move their listings to the US this year in search of a better market rating.
Spotlight c-suite
Spencer’s comments come at a time of deep anxiety at C-Suite.
The murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson brought the safety of the big company Spotlight Executive last week.
UnitedHealthCare and other insurance companies, Elevance Health andanthem Blue Cross Blue Shield; Committee Leadership BIOS removed amid growing safety concerns, in clear efforts to protect privacy.
Fortune Leadership editor Ruth Ummou and reporter Natalie McCormick Fearful growth trends Among executives moving into a corner office that could be accelerated by Johnson’s death.
Those who want to reverse that trend argue that higher wages may be the way to go.
This story was originally introduced Fortune.com