The Tesco boss admitted he is “well paid” as investors gave the green light to his £10m haul.
Ken Murphy, chief executive of Britain’s biggest supermarket, saw his salary more than double to £9.9m last year after annual profits hit £2.3bn and he won business from rivals.
His earnings since taking office in October 2020 have amounted to £20m.
Asked about his salary yesterday, the 58-year-old said: “I absolutely accept being paid well.”
He added that his remuneration was “delegated” by shareholders and two-thirds of it depended on his ability to achieve long-term objectives.
The comments came ahead of Tesco’s annual general meeting, where 93.5 per cent of voting shareholders backed its pay.
His extraordinary pay package is believed to be the largest amount ever awarded to a UK supermarket boss.
The vote on board pay came just hours after Tesco posted sales of £15.3bn for the three months to May 25, up 3.4 per cent on the same period last year. .
Sales in the UK, where it does most of its business, rose 4.6 per cent to £11.4bn.
Murphy said customers were buying more amid a “gentle rise in optimism” helped by lower inflation and a rise in the national living wage in April.
Sales are expected to rise further as the summer heats up with Euro 2024 kicking off yesterday and the Paris Olympics starting next month.
In the impending general election, Murphy did not endorse any party, but said he wanted “stability and coherence” from the next government.
He added: “We remain the cheapest and most competitive full-line supermarket we have ever been.”
Murphy said its share of the grocery sector was “growing more than at any time in the last two years, with customers switching to us from other retailers, shopping with us more frequently and putting more in their baskets.”
Sophie Lund-Yates, an analyst at brokerage Hargreaves Lansdown, said Tesco has “done exceptionally well” to increase its market share amid tough competition.
But at a time when excessive wages in several sectors have irritated both investors and the public, Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, said Murphy’s windfall was a “slap in the face to the millions of hard-pressed workers and their families who paid for it through higher food bills.
Murphy’s salary is more than double that of Simon Roberts, chief executive of the country’s second largest supermarket, Sainsbury’s.
But a potential £15m severance package for Ocado boss Tim Steiner would exceed that for Murphy.
The tech founder could receive a stock reward worth £14.8m from 2027 if stock market performance improves and cash flow increases.
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