Tesco’s chief executive took home record-breaking pay of nearly £10million last year – the largest earnings deal ever dished out to a British supermarket boss.
Ken Murphy pocketed £9.9million as his £1.4million salary was topped up by bonuses and other awards and benefits.
His total was more than double the £4.4million he collected the previous year and takes his total haul since taking the reins of the country’s largest grocer in October 2020 to more than £20million.
A number of pay revolts have hit the City this spring as investors raise their eyebrows at bumper awards.
Murphy, 58, has seen his remuneration soar to 431 times the wage of the average Tesco worker, which is £23,010.
Every little helps: Tesco boss Ken Murphy pocketed £9.9m as his £1.4m salary was topped up by bonuses and other awards and benefits
Luke Hildyard, executive director of the High Pay Centre, said: ‘You couldn’t really get a better indicator of how the UK economy serves the interests of the super rich at the expense of everybody else than this – a multi-millionaire chief executive trousering another £10million while its customers endure major price rises and its employees have to get by on less than a quarter of a percent of what the chief executive takes home.’
Tesco raked in a £2.3billion profit in the year to February. It is one of only a handful of British retailers to ever surpass a £1billion profits milestone.
But Murphy has been forced to defend the business from accusations of profiteering as the prices of its groceries rose.
He has argued that Tesco’s costs also increased and it has fought to keep prices affordable for customers.
A Tesco spokesman said yesterday: ‘When considering base salary increases for our senior executives, the committee continues to be mindful of both the wider colleague experience and our fairness principles.’
Shareholders will vote on the pay award at Tesco’s annual meeting at its headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, on June 14.
Pay revolts at AstraZeneca, Pearson, and Smith & Nephew have caused headaches for bosses in recent weeks. But others have argued that big pay packets are necessary to ensure talented chiefs do not quit for more lucrative positions abroad.
London Stock Exchange boss Julia Hoggett is among those calling for UK firms to ensure pay for top talent matches the equivalent being paid in the US.
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