FTSE 100 CEOs’ backgrounds, career paths and pay in numbers

Who’s in charge of the nation’s largest plcs? While the performance of the FTSE 100 is closely followed, details of its constituent CEOs can be harder to find.

To resolve this, Raconteur launched the CEO Index in 2023. Trawling through publicly available information on these corporate leaders, we were able to paint a more complete picture of the FTSE 100 CEOs, from their backgrounds to their soaring pay packets.

There has been much change since the first iteration of CEO Index last year. Eight companies have been promoted to the FTSE 100, including EasyJet, Darktrace and Marks & Spencer, which made its first return to the index since 2019. Elsewhere, 16 companies have changed leadership – most recently Burberry, which replaced outgoing CEO Jonathan Akeroyd with Joshua Schulman last week.

Three women have joined the ranks of the FTSE 100 bosses, BT’s Allison Kirkby, Darktrace’s Poppy Gustafsson and Diageo’s Debra Crew. However, Alison Rose of NatWest Group was forced to resign in July after she admitted to disclosing information about the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts bank account, taking the total number of female CEOs to 11.

CEO pay has also risen, as London Stock Exchange plc CEO Julia Hoggett has continued to push for higher executive pay rates in order to compete with the remuneration packages on offer at the largest US companies.

Explore more of what we discovered below. The data is correct as of 22 July 2024.

To create the CEO Index, Raconteur compiled dozens of data points on 97 FTSE 100 CEOs (excluding the leaders of three investment trusts with unusual corporate structures), drawing on publicly available sources such as corporate statements, government records and media reports.

Diversity

This year’s cohort of chief executives is slightly more diverse than the previous year, with two more women holding CEO positions and one LGBT+ chief executive, compared to none last year. However, this group of business leaders remains broadly unrepresentative when compared to the rest of the country.

Out of the 97 FTSE 100 CEOs,

eleven are women,

only 13 have come from a non-white European background,

only one has publicly come out as LGBT+,

and none have declared a disability.

How representative are these people of the UK today?

Each dot represents 1% of the population

women make up 51%,

18% are from an ethnic minority,

3.1% are LGB and 0.5% say their gender identity is different from their sex registered at birth.

Disabled people make up 18% of the population.

Is that an unfair comparison? We could look instead at another high-achieving group.

The nation’s 650 MPs have a similar age profile to top CEOs.

But 41% are women,

while just under 14% come from an ethnic minority background,

and 10% have described themselves as LGBT+.

Career

With regards to education, a degree remains an almost essential requirement to become a FTSE 100 CEO, with the majority having qualifications in business, economics or finance. But is it better to climb the corporate ladder within the same business or do FTSE boards seek people with outside experience when recruiting for the top position?

Divisional director

CEO

CFO

COO

Board Member

Other C-Suite

Regional director

Other finance

Entrepreneur

The route to the top might have started at a young age: at least 17% went to fee-paying schools, compared with 7% of British people.

Later, 37 attended one of the world’s top universities,

including 12 who studied at Oxford or Cambridge universities.

Almost half of the FTSE 100 CEOs hold a postgraduate degree

and 29 have an MBA

in total, 57% have a qualification in business, economics or finance.

Only three don’t have a bachelor’s degree,

Most FTSE 100 firms prefer loyal insiders as leaders: 64 were promoted from within the organisation

while 14 have worked at the same company all their careers.

The surest way to the top job? Managing a business line, division or subsidiary first,

while serving time as a CEO at another company is an equally valid apprenticeship.

Still, many don’t last long at the top:

16 of the current crop of CEOs were appointed during the last 12 months.

And two have announced they will be stepping down within the next year

Money

There has been much debate around executive reward recently with the London Stock Exchange and investment bank Schroders both arguing that UK CEOs could be better rewarded. How have the FTSE 100 CEOs fared this year and how do their pay rises compare to the average worker?

CEO turnover

FTSE 100 CEOs by total remuneration

Total pay (£)

Financial year-end 2023 or most recent available

CEO pay gaps

Female

Male

FTSE 100 CEO pay by market cap

Financial year-end 2022 or most recent available

CEO pay rises

CEOs who had a pay rise

CEOs who had a pay cut

£20m

£15m

£10m

£5m

Financial year-end 2023 or most recent available

CEO pay ratios

Companies where pay gap is widening

Companies where pay gap is closing

500

400

300

200

100

Financial year-end 2023 or most recent available

The first quarter of 2024 has seen the highest number of incoming CEOs to the FTSE 100 in years.

But despite increased CEO turnover, pay for chief executives remains high.

In 2022, FTSE 100 CEOs earned an average of £4.3m (excluding income besides their main job).

Last year, this figure increased to £5m.

Astrazeneca boss Pascal Soriot retains his title as the highest-paid CEO on the FTSE 100.

He took home £16.9m in total pay – a 9% increase on his previous pay packet.

Meanwhile, Fraser Group’s Michael Murray was the lowest paid.

He opted to waive his salary last year, with the promise of a £100m bonus, if the business hits certain targets.

Pay gaps remain an issue, even at the very top.

The average female FTSE 100 boss earned £768,000 less than their male counterpart last year.

However, on average, this group of CEOs were paid roughly the same, regardless of their ethnic background.

It is generally considered that, the more successful the company, the more pay the CEO should receive.

But this is not always the case.

Pearson CEO Andy Bird is the second highest-paid CEO on this year’s list.

However, he oversees a company that is roughly half the market value of Astrazeneca.

Healthcare bosses were once again the highest paid, on average, at £8.2m.

In comparison, utilities companies were relatively restrained. They were paid an average of £2.3m.

Several CEOs received bumper pay rises this financial year.

M&G CEO Andrea Rossi saw his total pay increase by 82%, mostly due to hitting performance-related targets

However, others received hefty pay cuts.

Croda International CEO Steve Foots saw his total compensation drop by more than 200% after he did not receive a bonus this year.

BAT’s CEO was paid less than half of his predecessor.

Despite the ups and downs, FTSE 100 CEOs received an average increase in total pay of 9%.

Annual growth in average employee earnings, including bonuses, was 5.7%.

This has led to a widening of the pay gap between CEOs and their employees.

On average, FTSE 100 CEOs are paid 98 times the median worker.

Tesco was the company with the largest disparity, with its CEO being awarded 431 times the pay of its median staff member.

See how you compare to the average FTSE 100 CEO using our calculator tool or explore the the key facts and figures about the UK’s top CEOs here.

LeadershipC-SuiteCEO IndexDriven by Data

Meet the FTSE 100 CEOs: 2024

Diversity

Career

Money

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