Meet the FTSE 100 CEOs

What does it take to run a FTSE 100 firm – and do the rewards of the job fairly reflect its demands? Take a scroll through the key data on the bosses of the UK’s biggest listed companies

Ceos Article Ftse100

Who’s in charge of the nation’s largest plcs? While this seems like a simple question, it can be surprisingly hard to find all the answers. 

To create the CEO Index, Raconteur compiled dozens of data points on 97 FTSE 100 CEOs in April 2023 (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.

Explore some of what we discovered below. The data is correct as of the start of this financial year, 6 April 2023.

Diversity

Following a string of government-led reviews into the diversity of FTSE leadership teams, the pressure on boards to find and nurture talent from a wider range of backgrounds has never been higher. But the data shows progress has been slow and uneven.

III
Simon Borrows
3i Group
ABDN
Stephen Bird
Abrdn
ADM
Milena Mondini de Focatiis
Admiral Group
AAF
Segun Ogunsanya
Airtel Africa
AAL
Duncan Wanblad
Anglo American
ANTO
Iván Arriagada
Antofagasta
AHT
Brendan Horgan
Ashtead Group
ABF
George G. Weston
Associated British Foods
AZN
Pascal Soriot
Astrazeneca
AUTO
Nathan Coe
Auto Trader Group
AV.
Amanda Blanc
Aviva
BME
Alejandro Russo
B&M European Value Retail
BA.
Charles Woodburn
BAE Systems
BARC
C. S. Venkatakrishnan
Barclays
BDEV
David Thomas
Barratt Developments
BZ
Adrian Peter Cox
Beazley
BKG
Rob C. Perrins
Berkeley Group Holdings
BP.
Bernard Looney
BP
BATS
Jack Bowles
British American Tobacco
BLND
Simon Carter
British Land
BT.A
Philip Jansen
BT Group
BNZL
Frank van Zanten
Bunzl
BRBY
Jonathan Akeroyd
Burberry Group
CNA
Chris O’Shea
Centrica
CCH
Zoran Bogdanović
Coca-Cola HBC
CPG
Dominic Blakemore
Compass Group
CTEC
Karim Bitar
Convatec Group
CRH
Albert Manifold
CRH
CRDA
Steve Foots
Croda International
DCC
Donal Murphy
DCC
DGE
Ivan Menezes
Diageo
EDV
Sébastien de Montessus
Endeavour Mining
ENT
Jette Nygaard-Andersen
Entain
EXPN
Brian Cassin
Experian
FLTR
Jeremy Peter Jackson
Flutter Entertainment
FRAS
Michael Murray
Frasers Group
FRES
Octavio Alvídrez
Fresnillo
GLEN
Gary Nagle
Glencore
GSK
Emma Walmsley
GSK
HLN
Brian McNamara
Haleon
HLMA
Marc Ronchetti
Halma
HL.
Chris Hill
Hargreaves Lansdown
HSBA
Noel Quinn
HSBC
HSX
Aki Hussain
Hiscox
IAG
Luis Gallego
IAG
IMB
Stefan Bomhard
Imperial Brands
INF
Stephen Carter
Informa
IHG
Keith Barr
Intercontinental Hotels Group
ITRK
André Lacroix
Intertek Group
JD.
Régis Schultz
JD Sports Fashion
JMAT
Liam Condon
Johnson Matthey
KGF
Thierry Garnier
Kingfisher
LAND
Mark Allan
Land Securities Group
LGEN
Nigel Wilson
Legal & General Group
LLOY
Charlie Nunn
Lloyds Banking Group
LSEG
David Schwimmer
London Stock Exchange Group
MNG
Andrea Rossi
M&G
MRO
Simon Peckham
Melrose Industries
MNDI
Andrew King
Mondi
NG.
John Pettigrew
National Grid
NWG
Alison Rose
Natwest Group
NXT
Simon Wolfson
Next
OCDO
Tim Steiner
Ocado Group
PSON
Andy Bird
Pearson
PSN
Dean Finch
Persimmon
PHNX
Andy Briggs
Phoenix Group Holdings
PRU
Anil Wadhwani
Prudential
RKT
Nicandro Durante
Reckitt Benckiser Group
REL
Erik Engstrom
Relx
RTO
Andy Ransom
Rentokil Initial
RMV
Johan Svanstrom
Rightmove
RIO
Jakob Stausholm
Rio Tinto
RR
Tufan Erginbilgic
Rolls-Royce Holdings
RS1
Simon Pryce
RS Group
SGE
Stephen Hare
Sage Group
SBRY
Simon Roberts
Sainsbury
SDR
Peter Harrison
Schroders
SGRO
David Sleath
Segro
SVT
Liv Garfield
Severn Trent
SHEL
Wael Sawan
Shell
SMDS
Miles Roberts
Smith (DS)
SN.
Deepak Nath
Smith & Nephew
SMIN
Paul Keel
Smiths Group
SKG
Anthony Smurfit
Smurfit Kappa Group
SPX
Nicholas Anderson
Spirax-Sarco Engineering
SSE
Alistair Phillips-Davies
SSE
STJ
Andrew Croft
St. James’s Place
STAN
Bill Winters
Standard Chartered
TW.
Jennie Daly
Taylor Wimpey
TSCO
Ken Murphy
Tesco
ULVR
Alan Jope
Unilever
UTG
Richard Smith
Unite Group
UU.
Louise Beardmore
United Utilities
VOD
Margherita Della Valle
Vodafone Group
WEIR
Jon Stanton
Weir Group
WTB
Dominic Paul
Whitbread
WPP
Mark Read
WPP

Out of the 97 FTSE 100 CEOs,

nine are women,
only 11 have come from a non-white European background,
not one has publicly come out as LGBT+,
or 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 21% 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 35% are women,
while just over 10% are people of colour.
Almost the same percentage have described themselves as LGBT+,
while 1% say they are disabled.

Career

It takes a special kind of person to lead an international corporation. FTSE 100 CEOs must have a laundry list of personal qualities – resilience, adaptability and decisiveness, to name but a few. Could that be why so many have similar career backgrounds?

III
Simon Borrows
3i Group
ABDN
Stephen Bird
Abrdn
ADM
Milena Mondini de Focatiis
Admiral Group
AAF
Segun Ogunsanya
Airtel Africa
AAL
Duncan Wanblad
Anglo American
ANTO
Iván Arriagada
Antofagasta
AHT
Brendan Horgan
Ashtead Group
ABF
George G. Weston
Associated British Foods
AZN
Pascal Soriot
Astrazeneca
AUTO
Nathan Coe
Auto Trader Group
AV.
Amanda Blanc
Aviva
BME
Alejandro Russo
B&M European Value Retail
BA.
Charles Woodburn
BAE Systems
BARC
C. S. Venkatakrishnan
Barclays
BDEV
David Thomas
Barratt Developments
BZ
Adrian Peter Cox
Beazley
BKG
Rob C. Perrins
Berkeley Group Holdings
BP.
Bernard Looney
BP
BATS
Jack Bowles
British American Tobacco
BLND
Simon Carter
British Land
BT.A
Philip Jansen
BT Group
BNZL
Frank van Zanten
Bunzl
BRBY
Jonathan Akeroyd
Burberry Group
CNA
Chris O’Shea
Centrica
CCH
Zoran Bogdanović
Coca-Cola HBC
CPG
Dominic Blakemore
Compass Group
CTEC
Karim Bitar
Convatec Group
CRH
Albert Manifold
CRH
CRDA
Steve Foots
Croda International
DCC
Donal Murphy
DCC
DGE
Ivan Menezes
Diageo
EDV
Sébastien de Montessus
Endeavour Mining
ENT
Jette Nygaard-Andersen
Entain
EXPN
Brian Cassin
Experian
FLTR
Jeremy Peter Jackson
Flutter Entertainment
FRAS
Michael Murray
Frasers Group
FRES
Octavio Alvídrez
Fresnillo
GLEN
Gary Nagle
Glencore
GSK
Emma Walmsley
GSK
HLN
Brian McNamara
Haleon
HLMA
Marc Ronchetti
Halma
HL.
Chris Hill
Hargreaves Lansdown
HSBA
Noel Quinn
HSBC
HSX
Aki Hussain
Hiscox
IAG
Luis Gallego
IAG
IMB
Stefan Bomhard
Imperial Brands
INF
Stephen Carter
Informa
IHG
Keith Barr
Intercontinental Hotels Group
ITRK
André Lacroix
Intertek Group
JD.
Régis Schultz
JD Sports Fashion
JMAT
Liam Condon
Johnson Matthey
KGF
Thierry Garnier
Kingfisher
LAND
Mark Allan
Land Securities Group
LGEN
Nigel Wilson
Legal & General Group
LLOY
Charlie Nunn
Lloyds Banking Group
LSEG
David Schwimmer
London Stock Exchange Group
MNG
Andrea Rossi
M&G
MRO
Simon Peckham
Melrose Industries
MNDI
Andrew King
Mondi
NG.
John Pettigrew
National Grid
NWG
Alison Rose
Natwest Group
NXT
Simon Wolfson
Next
OCDO
Tim Steiner
Ocado Group
PSON
Andy Bird
Pearson
PSN
Dean Finch
Persimmon
PHNX
Andy Briggs
Phoenix Group Holdings
PRU
Anil Wadhwani
Prudential
RKT
Nicandro Durante
Reckitt Benckiser Group
REL
Erik Engstrom
Relx
RTO
Andy Ransom
Rentokil Initial
RMV
Johan Svanstrom
Rightmove
RIO
Jakob Stausholm
Rio Tinto
RR
Tufan Erginbilgic
Rolls-Royce Holdings
RS1
Simon Pryce
RS Group
SGE
Stephen Hare
Sage Group
SBRY
Simon Roberts
Sainsbury
SDR
Peter Harrison
Schroders
SGRO
David Sleath
Segro
SVT
Liv Garfield
Severn Trent
SHEL
Wael Sawan
Shell
SMDS
Miles Roberts
Smith (DS)
SN.
Deepak Nath
Smith & Nephew
SMIN
Paul Keel
Smiths Group
SKG
Anthony Smurfit
Smurfit Kappa Group
SPX
Nicholas Anderson
Spirax-Sarco Engineering
SSE
Alistair Phillips-Davies
SSE
STJ
Andrew Croft
St. James’s Place
STAN
Bill Winters
Standard Chartered
TW.
Jennie Daly
Taylor Wimpey
TSCO
Ken Murphy
Tesco
ULVR
Alan Jope
Unilever
UTG
Richard Smith
Unite Group
UU.
Louise Beardmore
United Utilities
VOD
Margherita Della Valle
Vodafone Group
WEIR
Jon Stanton
Weir Group
WTB
Dominic Paul
Whitbread
WPP
Mark Read
WPP
Divisional director 
32
CEO 
14
COO 
12
CFO 
12
Board Member 
8
Other C-Suite 
7
Regional director 
6
Other finance 
4
Entrepreneur 
2
The route to the top might have started at a young age: at least a quarter went to fee-paying schools, compared with 7% of British people
Later, 40% attended one of the world’s top universities,
including 12 who studied at Oxford or Cambridge universities.
Half of the FTSE 100 CEOs hold a postgraduate degree 
and a quarter have an MBA
in total, 70% have a qualification in business, economics or finance.
Only two don’t have a bachelor’s degree: the CEOs of Burberry and Sainsbury’s.
Most FTSE 100 firms prefer loyal insiders as leaders: 70% were promoted from within the organisation
while 11 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 CFO or COO is an equally valid apprenticeship.
Still, many don’t last long at the top:
20% of the current crop of CEOs were appointed during the last financial year.
Four more have already announced they will step down.

Money

The executive rewards reported by the UK’s biggest plcs generate hundreds of negative headlines each year. Energy companies and supermarket chains have been the latest firms to come under fire for paying their CEOs handsomely while their customers face huge price increases. Are such bumper compensation packages justified?

FTSE 100 CEOs by total remuneration 
£4.3m2m4m6m8m10m12m14m16mTotal pay (£)
£4.3m2m4m6m8m10m12m14m16mTotal pay (£)
Financial year-end 2022 or most recent available 
FTSE 100 CEOs by fixed and variable pay 
1m2m4m6m8mVariable pay (£)10m12m14m2m3m4mFixed pay (£)
Fixed pay (£)Variable pay (£)2m4m6m8m10m12m14m1m2m3m4m
Financial year-end 2022 or most recent available 
Average FTSE 100 CEO pay by year 
2013201420142015201620172018201920202021£3m£3.5m£4m£4.5m£5m£6m£5.5m£4.3m
2013201420142015201620172018201920202021£3m£3.5m£4m£4.5m£5m£6m£5.5m£4.3m
Source: High Pay Centre, 2022 
Ratio of CEO to median worker’s pay 
50:1100:1150:1200:1250:1300:1Pay ratio
50:1100:1150:1200:1250:1300:1Pay ratio
Financial year-end 2022 or most recent available 
FTSE 100 CEO pay ratio versus Glassdoor rating 
20%40:180:1120:1160:1Pay ratio200:1240:1280:140%60%100%80%Glassdoor CEO rating
Glassdoor CEO ratingPay ratio40:180:1120:1160:1200:1240:1280:120%40%60%100%80%
Financial year-end 2022 or most recent available, Glassdoor ratings correct as of 23 April 2023 
Last year, FTSE 100 CEOs earned an average of £4.3m (excluding income besides their main job).
This was split between £1.2m in fixed pay, which includes salary, pension and other benefits,
and £3.1m of variable pay: bonuses and other incentives.
Healthcare bosses had the highest average pay: £7.6m.
That was boosted by Pascal Soirot of AstraZeneca. The pharma boss earned £15.3m, mostly because of a £13m bonus.
Finance companies were comparatively restrained, paying only £3.5m on average.
Companies based outside the UK – Mexican mining firm Fresnillo, for instance – tend to pay the least.
Average FTSE 100 CEO pay has fallen by about a fifth since its peak in 2017, but it is still far above what ordinary workers receive.
Listed firms must disclose the ratio between their CEO’s total pay and that of their median UK employee.
The average was 89:1 last year, but three CEOs were paid more than 200 times their median employee’s salary.
Bosses of consumer and retail companies had the highest pay ratio, at 113:1.
Real-estate companies had the lowest at 48.5:1.
But these gulfs don’t seem to have much impact on CEOs’ popularity with their staff.
There’s little correlation between how their staff rate them on Glassdoor and how much more they get paid.

While this is the state FTSE 100 leadership is in, things are changing at the top of UK plc. There are more female CEOs than ever before, while boards appear to be showing some restraint on executive pay. But are they moving fast enough? Read the analysis here: Is the face of FTSE 100 leadership changing?