Is any employee worth paying £18.7m?
That’s the monster sum AstraZeneca has awarded its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, who’s in line for a £1.5m salary with the rest in mostly share-based bonuses.
Soriot is undoubtedly one of Britain’s top bosses. Over the past five years, AstraZeneca’s shares have increased by 82 per cent, turning £1,000 into £1,820 excluding dividend payments. By contrast, the FTSE 100 has improved by just under 7 per cent. Tracking the performance of the blue chip stock index would have made you just £1070 before dividends and charges.
