Data shows that it has taken the average FTSE 100 CEO just over two days to earn the median UK worker’s full time annual salary.
High Pay Centre data shows that the average FTSE 100 CEO earnings will surpass the median UK worker’s full time annual salary at midday on Tuesday 6th January. This is the same amount of time as FTSE100 bosses had to work to achieve the same result in 2025. The calculations are based on the High Pay Centre’s analysis of the most recent CEO pay disclosures published in companies’ annual reports as of January 2026, combined with government statistics showing pay levels across the UK economy.
Median FTSE 100 CEO pay amounted to £4.4 million (excluding pension), 113 times the median full time worker’s pay of £39,039 and a 4.22% increase from the figure of £4.22 million last year. The pay ratio of 113 is exactly the same as 2025. By comparison, it would take the following groups x amount of time to surpass the median UK worker salary:
- 4 days for partners at Magic Circle law firms (8th January)
- 10 days for material risk takers at FTSE 100 banks (16th January)
- 12 days for partners at Big Four accountancy firms (20th January)
- 54 days for those in the top 1% of incomes in the UK (19th March)
- 2 hours for the CEO of Melrose, Peter Dilnot (5th January)
Our calculations have assumed that CEOs work 62.5 hours a week based on previous studies documenting this. Excluding weekends and bank holidays, this equates to hourly pay of £1,353.23 per hour on the basis of £4.398 million average CEO pay.
In December, the Employment Rights Act received Royal assent. Given that decline in trade union membership is widely viewed as a pivotal factor in the rise of excessive CEO to worker pay gaps and broader societal inequality, it is promising to see the bill will grant trade unions reasonable access to workplaces to speak to workers and require employers to inform new employees of their right to join a union.
However, what is also clear is the need for more direct regulation of the gaps in pay between bosses and their staff. The High Pay Centre are therefore launching a petition calling for a ‘Fat Cat Tax’ on companies that pay executives vastly more than their workers. Under this proposal, firms would pay a corporation tax surcharge on their yearly profits if single-figure remuneration for an executive director exceeds a specified multiple of the median UK worker’s salary. This would start with a modest levy for firms with a pay ratio of 10:1, before rising progressively to the highest rate for ratios of 500:1 plus.