A tale of a chief executive about to join a high-profile British company has gone down in City folklore. Before taking the reins, a trusted advisor asks him the rather awkward question of how much he thought he should be paid.It's an intriguing insight into the entitled, self-serving mindset that still prevails in some of Britain's boardrooms, despite decades of efforts by campaigners to curb 'fat cat' pay and a cost-of-living squeeze that has hit households.
To find out, The Mail on Sunday compared the pay of chief executives from leading firms on both sides of the pond. We found that US bosses generally earn more than their British counterparts but the gap is not always that big, especially when stock market valuations are considered. He has been playing catch-up ever since and is now Britain's highest paid boss, earning £16.9 million last year. Soriot still lags the likes of his US counterpart at Eli Lilly but a recent analysis by the Financial Times put him in the middle of the pack of 'Big Pharma' pay. That may explain why more than a third of AZ's shareholders this month opposed plans to give him a bumper pay rise.
Among those leading calls to pay bosses more is Rupert Soames, president of the Confederation of British Industry lobby group.
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