Former Army helicopter pilot Peter Dilnot ranked first in the FTSE 100’s administrative compensation alliance, earning £45 million last year, surpassing Astrazeneca’s Pascal Soriot’s annual Fat Cat Files survey in business affairs.
Dilnot, 55, operates aerospace engineer Melrose, and three other executives received one of the largest board payments in the history of the UK company through a long-term stake scheme five years ago. The plan was triggered after the group hit the performance target, awarding Dilnot a one-time £43 million bonus and his salary and other benefits.
The huge award means Melrose replaced Tesco as the FTSE 100 company, with the largest salary gap between its CEO and average employees. Dilnot and former Simon Peckham, who had a salary stall of £58 million in March 2024, were 1,112 times higher than the £53,000 a typical Melrose worker earned.
Two other executives in the program, Christopher Miller and Geoffrey Martin, earned £50 million and £57 million respectively.
Melrose, which owns GKN aerospace business, has more than doubled its market value to £7.5 billion since its acquisition of Demerger, which is DOWLAIS, which acquired GKN and its automotive division, increased its bonus scheme in 2018.
Dilnot rose to the top, and Pascal Soriot dominated the UK’s highest CEO of Blue Chip. AstraZeneca’s boss dropped his salary from £16.9 million last year to £14.7 million last year after the company’s stock success.
Soriot is now in third place, behind Pearson chief Omar Abbosh, who made £16.3 million in 2024, largely due to his Microsoft contract acquisition.
Not all FTSE bosses have seen the increase: Rolls-Royce Chief Tufan Erginbilgic’s total salary dropped from £13.6 million to £4.1 million, reflecting his lack of a one-time £7.5 million reward when he joined from BP.
Emma Walmsley remains the high-paid female CEO of the FTSE 100, earning £10.6 million in Glaxosmithkline, down from £12.7 million. However, under the new American-style compensation plan, her 2025 package could reach £22 million.
Melrose’s bonus scheme has sparked one of the largest shareholder uprisings in recent years, causing uproar over Jeff Fairburn’s £75 million grant payment in 2018. This rebellion is consultative rather than binding, but emphasizes the ongoing tensions in London’s ongoing administrative compensation levels.
Data from some cities argues that the UK’s salary is too low to compete globally. Astrazeneca, worth £175 billion, is one of several blue chip stocks exploring moving to New York, where executive salary packages tend to be higher.
