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

Trendingnow

1

Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026

2

Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup

3

Current price of oil as of June 16, 2026

1

Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026

2

Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup

3

Current price of oil as of June 16, 2026
Financecompensation

Bosses at Britain’s biggest companies have already been paid an average worker’s annual salary—and they did it even faster than in 2022

By
Chloe Taylor
Chloe Taylor
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Chloe Taylor
Chloe Taylor
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 5, 2023, 8:52 AM ET
Businessman looking out of a large boardroom window at London's financial district at night
CEOs at the U.K.’s 100 biggest firms will earn the average Brit’s salary in less than three working days in 2023. John Lamb—Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Bosses at the U.K.’s biggest companies have already earned the equivalent of Britain’s median annual salary this year, according to new research, with top CEOs raking in tens of thousands of pounds before the third working day of 2023 is out.

According to calculations published on Thursday by the High Pay Centre, a London-based think tank that campaigns for pay equality, median CEO pay at FTSE 100 firms—based on an analysis of the most recent CEO pay disclosures and government wage statistics—currently stands at £3.41 million ($4.1 million).

That’s 103 times the median full-time worker’s annual pay of £33,000 ($39,620).

London’s FTSE 100 index comprises the largest London-listed companies by market capitalization, including Rio Tinto, HSBC, Vodafone, and Shell.

Thursday’s report also found that while median FTSE 100 CEO pay has increased 39% since January last year, median workers pay has risen by 6% over the same period. The U.K.’s most recent annual inflation reading, for November, was 10.7%, with the consumer price index hovering above or near 10% for much of 2022.  

The High Pay Centre’s findings mean that by 2 p.m. London time (9 a.m. ET) on Thursday, the median CEO’s earnings will surpass the median annual salary for a U.K. full-time worker.

As Jan. 2 was a public holiday, that means the marker will have been reached before the end of Britain’s third working day of 2023.

This year, the milestone will be reached nine working hours earlier than it was in 2022, according to the organization’s analysis.

The phenomenon isn’t limited to Britain.

Bosses at France’s most valuable public companies are also set to earn an average French employee’s annual salary by Thursday, according to Oxfam, while chief executives in countries from the U.S. to Sweden also earn an average worker’s yearly income in a matter of days.  

In the U.K., it isn’t just CEOs who are set to make the median annual salary in a matter of days this year, the High Pay Centre’s report showed.

Partners at London’s most prestigious law firms, whose median salary rang in at £1.95 million ($2.3 million), would have earned £33,000 by Jan. 9, the think tank said, while top bankers at one of the five banks on the FTSE 100 would have achieved the feat by Jan. 17.

Cost of living crisis

While inflation has plagued many western states, Britain has been hit particularly hard—and economists widely believe that things are only going to get worse for the U.K., warning that the country will experience a “deeper and more prolonged recession” than any other G7 nation.

The U.K. is currently embroiled in its worst cost of living crisis for decades, with inflation hitting 41-year highs last year while a shrinking economy saw the country end 2022 teetering on the brink of a recession.

Alongside an ongoing energy crisis that has seen millions of households around the U.K. plunged into “fuel poverty,” the country’s food price inflation hit a record high at the end of 2022 while real wages declined at a record rate as inflation continued to bite into Britons’ purchasing power.

The ongoing squeeze has led to widespread labor strikes across the country, with train and bus drivers, teachers, driving test examiners, nurses, and ambulance drivers set to go on strike in various parts of the U.K. in January, following weeks of union action at the end of 2022.

‘Little public support’ for high CEO pay

In a statement on Thursday, the High Pay Centre’s Director Luke Hildyard said measures needed to be implemented to balance income distribution more evenly so that declining living standards in Britain could be addressed.

“In the worst economic circumstances that most people can remember, it is difficult to believe that a handful of top earners are still raking in such extraordinary amounts of money,” he said.

“The U.K. economy really cannot afford for such a big share of the wealth that is created by all workers to be captured by such a tiny number of people at the top.”

Meanwhile, Jo Wittams, co–executive director of British charity the Equality Trust, told Fortune on Thursday that her organization’s research showed that 70% of Brits support government regulation of CEO pay.

“It would be easy to portray this as a reward for hard work, but these rewards are not equitably balanced. CEOs and shareholders are reaping the benefits of record profits, while workers are urged to take real-terms pay cuts, despite increased productivity,” she said.

“Companies must be aware of the broader economic context in which they operate—recognizing that with decades of wage stagnation for workers coupled with inflation reaching a 40-year high, there is little public support for ever increasing executive pay.”

Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter examines how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today’s executives. Subscribe here.

About the Author
By Chloe Taylor
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

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 Finance

Vietnam has to find $200 billion to fund its ambitious growth agenda. Techcombank’s CEO thinks that has to come from overseas
BankingAsia Agenda
Vietnam has to find $200 billion to fund its ambitious growth agenda. Techcombank’s CEO thinks that has to come from overseas
By Angelica AngJune 16, 2026
8 hours ago
Vessels lie at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran's coast.
Energyoil and gas
Filling up your car won’t feel normal until next summer, S&P says
By Tristan BoveJune 16, 2026
9 hours ago
A man sits at a red checkerboard table with a Tiffany-style Pizza Hut lamp hanging above him.
RetailFood and drink
Pizza Hut is getting the private equity treatment in a $2.7 billion deal as its owner offloads the brand that defined 1990s dining nostalgia
By Sasha RogelbergJune 16, 2026
9 hours ago
Exclusive: PayPal winds down venture arm as fintech giant restructures under new CEO
Startups & VenturePayPal Holdings
Exclusive: PayPal winds down venture arm as fintech giant restructures under new CEO
By Ben WeissJune 16, 2026
9 hours ago
‘Making China the elephant in the room’: The G7 confronts its reliance on U.S. AI and Chinese energy supply chains, experts say
EuropeAnthropic
‘Making China the elephant in the room’: The G7 confronts its reliance on U.S. AI and Chinese energy supply chains, experts say
By Mia OsmonbekovJune 16, 2026
10 hours ago
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
EconomyFederal Reserve
Trump turned the dollar into a foreign policy tool, and now risks undermining the currency’s extraordinary status, think tank says
By Tristan BoveJune 16, 2026
11 hours ago

Most Popular

Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 15, 2026
2 days ago
Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup
Success
Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup
By Preston ForeJune 15, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 16, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 16, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 16, 2026
16 hours ago
Hundreds of Stanford students walked out of their grad ceremony to protest Google CEO’s commencement speech. It wasn’t all about AI
Big Tech
Hundreds of Stanford students walked out of their grad ceremony to protest Google CEO’s commencement speech. It wasn’t all about AI
By Tristan BoveJune 15, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 15, 2026
2 days ago
Cursor’s 25-year-old CEO is a former Google intern who just cemented a $60 billion deal with SpaceX
AI
Cursor’s 25-year-old CEO is a former Google intern who just cemented a $60 billion deal with SpaceX
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 16, 2026
16 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.