The problem with £469m pay packets

In some ways Bet365 boss Denise Coates’ staggering earnings are less of a problem than a FTSE 100 boss earning £10m for failing. But they once again turn the spotlight on the grotesque inequalities plaguing modern Britain, writes James Moore

Denise Coates: The Bet365 boss is the holder of the record for Britain’s biggest pay packet (PA)

It might seem counterintuitive, but a FTSE 100 CEO earning £10m is in many ways more of a problem than Bet365 boss Denise Coates pulling in the dizzying sum of £469m, a British record pay package. 

The vast majority of blue chip company bosses are hirelings chosen to run organisations that become less entrepreneurial and more bureaucratic the bigger they become. 

The pay packages of their CEOs are structured to reward them handsomely for failure by remuneration committees that often include other CEOs, or senior executives, or former pay consultants, who are selected on the basis that they won’t rock the boat.