January 6, 2026
Grab your calculators and pitchforks
FTSE100 bosses' pay overtakes typical worker's annual salary in less than 3 days
3 days to beat your pay: outrage, envy, and “automate the boss”
TLDR: FTSE 100 CEOs now out-earn the average worker in under three days, averaging £4.4m a year. The comments erupt: some rage at a 113x gap and want reforms, others shrug that markets decide, and a loud chorus jokes about just automating the boss—sparking a heated fairness debate.
Before lunch on day three of 2026, FTSE 100 bosses had already made more than a typical UK worker earns all year — and the internet broke out the calculators. The High Pay Centre’s findings (average CEO pay £4.4m, or 113 times the typical £39,039) set off fireworks, with many calling it proof of a system that values executives over everyone else. Others point to falling union power and cheer proposals for worker seats on boards and extra taxes, echoing the thinktank’s High Pay Centre push.
But the comments are gloriously messy. One number-cruncher turned the thread into “Tax Math 101,” claiming it’d take a FTSE boss “300 years” to match a billionaire’s stock haul after tax. Another voice rolled their eyes at the outrage, comparing CEO pay to sports stars: don’t hate the player, don’t compare your salary to theirs. Then came the meme wave: “Just automate the boss,” joked one user, arguing AI could shave millions off the org chart. Meanwhile, side quests popped up: Magic Circle law partners hitting the average salary by 8 January; Big Four partners by 20 January; and last month’s lightning rod — Bet365’s £280m CEO payday — got name-checked as the poster child for excess. The vibe: resentment vs realism vs robots, with a dash of gallows humor.
Key Points
- •FTSE 100 CEOs surpassed the average UK worker’s annual salary less than three days into 2026, reaching it just before midday on Tuesday.
- •Average FTSE 100 CEO pay (excluding pensions) is £4.40m, or £1,353.23 per hour, 113 times the average worker’s £39,039.
- •Partners at Magic Circle law firms reach the average UK pay by 8 January; Big Four accounting partners by 20 January; top 1% incomes by 19 March.
- •An earlier report shows FTSE 100 CEO pay rose 6.8% to a record £4.58m in 2024–25, with Melrose Industries’ leaders receiving a combined £58.9m.
- •The High Pay Centre links the pay gap to declining trade union membership and calls for governance reform and targeted taxation to fund education.