• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
MPWMost Powerful Women

Men Named ‘David’ Outnumbered All of Britain’s Top Women CEOs Last Year

Claire Zillman
By
Claire Zillman
Claire Zillman
Editor, Leadership
Down Arrow Button Icon
Claire Zillman
By
Claire Zillman
Claire Zillman
Editor, Leadership
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 4, 2017, 7:13 AM ET
Key Airline Executives Attend The Global Aviation Festival
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

A version of this article first appeared in Fortune‘s World’s Most Powerful Women newsletter. Subscribe here.

A report on FTSE 100 CEOs published Thursday underscores the blatant gender imbalance in the number of female versus male CEOs at U.K.’s largest public companies. The report, based on fiscal year 2016, makes a point of mentioning that there were actually more men named David—eight—and men named Steve or Stephen—seven—among the top CEOs than there were female chief executives—six.

It also revealed a pay gap between what those women earned on average, compared to their male counterparts.

According to the report by High Pay Centre and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, there were six female chief executives in the index—Whitbread’s Alison Brittain, Kingfisher’s Veronique Laury, Imperial Brand’s Alison Cooper, Severn Trent’s Liv Garfield, Royal Mail’s Moya Greene, and EasyJet’s Carolyn McCall— in fiscal year 2016, but they earned just 4% of the total pay. (Emma Walmsley became CEO of GlaxoSmithKline after the timeframe of the report.) The 94 male CEOs earned an average salary of £4.7 million last year while women CEOs were paid £2.6 million on average. Of the women, Cooper took home the largest pay check worth £5.5 million.

All told, men on the list—on average—earned 77% more than their female counterparts.

The report’s finding comes amid other high-profile equal pay battles at the Financial Times and the BBC, and it clearly illustrates—says report co-author Peter Cheese—a pay disparity at the top.

“Quite rightly this issue of fairness is increasingly being called out and this needs to be addressed at all levels of businesses,” Cheese, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, told the Guardian.

About the Author
Claire Zillman
By Claire ZillmanEditor, Leadership
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Claire Zillman is a senior editor at Fortune, overseeing leadership stories. 

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

ice
PoliticsImmigration
ICE arrested a woman in a habit walking to mass, then released her after realizing she was a nun
By Valerie Gonzalez and The Associated PressJune 30, 2026
3 days ago
MacKenzie Scott (left); Elon Musk (right)
SuccessMacKenzie Scott
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: ‘Sadly,’ it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
3 days ago
swisher
Politicspodcasts
‘Podcasts are the NBA’: Scott Galloway on Kara Swisher’s big success — ‘there’s a small amount of people making a lot of money’
By Steven Sloan and The Associated PressJune 29, 2026
3 days ago
np
PoliticsColleges and Universities
Nancy Pelosi brings her legendary congressional knowhow to a new Berkeley institute with $35 million in funding
By Kevin Freking and The Associated PressJune 29, 2026
4 days ago
Illustration of a bomb with the Bitcoin logo printed on it, against an orange background.
CryptoCryptocurrency
Bitcoin down 20% since May as Strategy fallout spooks investors
By Camila Grigera NaónJune 26, 2026
6 days ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America’s $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
SuccessMacKenzie Scott
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America’s $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
8 days ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
2 days ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
8 days ago
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
Success
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 2, 2026
19 hours ago
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
Success
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 2, 2026
9 hours ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
2 days ago
Americans are escaping the U.S. for New Zealand where house prices have hit a new low—but only wealthy Americans with $3 million spare can invest
Success
Americans are escaping the U.S. for New Zealand where house prices have hit a new low—but only wealthy Americans with $3 million spare can invest
By Emma BurleighJuly 2, 2026
11 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.