Home / Business and Economy / AstraZeneca CEO's £168M Payday Sparks Outrage
AstraZeneca CEO's £168M Payday Sparks Outrage
25 Feb
Summary
- CEO Pascal Soriot received his largest pay package, totaling £17.7 million in 2025.
- AstraZeneca's market value has surged to £238 billion under Soriot's leadership.
- Concerns persist over a potential UK exit, fueled by US and China deals.
Pascal Soriot, the CEO of AstraZeneca, received his highest pay package to date in 2025, amounting to £17.7 million. This brings his total earnings from the pharmaceutical giant to an impressive £168 million since he took charge in 2012. During his tenure, Soriot has transformed AstraZeneca into the most valuable company on the London stock market.
Analysts note Soriot's strategic vision has positioned AstraZeneca as a global leader, particularly in oncology, with ambitious revenue targets for 2030 on track. The company reported a 43% profit increase and 9% revenue growth for 2025, largely driven by its cancer drug sales.
Despite financial successes, Soriot's compensation has drawn criticism, with watchdog groups highlighting extreme executive pay trends in the FTSE 100 and questioning whether any CEO warrants such a high salary compared to typical workers. Investor dissatisfaction with executive pay plans has been a recurring issue.
Furthermore, there are growing concerns that AstraZeneca may be shifting its strategic focus away from the UK. Recent multi-billion pound deals in the US and China, coupled with the company's upgraded US-listed shares and Soriot's comments about being 'very American,' have fueled fears of a potential delisting from the London Stock Exchange. These worries are compounded by AstraZeneca's recent decisions to scale back spending in the UK, including scrapping plans for a vaccine factory in Liverpool and pausing investment in its Cambridge research site.
