LONDON, March 6, 2026, 08:02 GMT
- Rolls-Royce rolled out a fresh pay policy, putting CEO Tufan Erginbilgic in line for a potential maximum package of roughly £18.5 million come 2026.
- Shareholders are set to vote on the proposals during the company’s annual meeting in Derby on April 30.
- The board pitched the overhaul as an effort to narrow the gap with global industrial and aerospace peers.
Rolls-Royce Holdings disclosed that under its proposed pay policy, chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic could take home as much as 18.459 million pounds ($) in 2026—assuming top-end performance targets are reached. That’s from the company’s latest remuneration filings.
Timing is key here: Rolls-Royce’s new pay policy goes to a shareholder vote at the April 30 annual general meeting, following a sharp run-up in the share price and amid a wider trend among some UK blue chips to lift executive pay caps.
Erginbilgic’s base pay climbed 15.6% in September, hitting 1.58 million pounds, according to the Financial Times. The report also noted increases to both the annual bonus cap and long-term incentive awards as part of the fresh policy. Rolls-Royce told the paper it now finds itself in a “completely different place” compared to when the previous policy was introduced. Financial Times
The company’s revamped long-term incentive plan, or LTIP, links share awards to performance over several years. According to remuneration filings, the chief executive could see their LTIP grant boosted to 750% of base salary—up from the prior 375%. The maximum annual incentive would also lift, reaching 300% of salary.
The document laid out another scenario, this one assuming a 50% jump in the share price after the grant. Under those conditions, the chief executive’s pay package could climb to roughly £24.407 million, according to the company’s own examples.
The remuneration committee reported it had compared pay and identified what it called a “material gap” between Rolls-Royce’s packages and “competitive levels of pay” among a refreshed set of peers—names like RTX, Safran, Airbus, plus other big industrials. MarketScreener
Shareholders are set to vote on Rolls-Royce’s directors’ pay policy and remuneration report during the April meeting. They’ll also decide on a proposed 5.0 pence final dividend for 2025, the company said.
The vote isn’t a done deal. Investors could balk at the size of the proposed increases, forcing Rolls-Royce to either tweak its policy or settle for stricter caps—even as the company maintains it needs to stay competitive for leadership talent worldwide.
The pay row surfaces just weeks after Rolls-Royce reported a 40% surge in annual profit and set out a multi-year share buyback, riding a wave of demand for its aero-engines along with growing power needs from data centers.
Shares of Rolls-Royce slid 5.4% on Thursday, ending the session at £12.90 amid a wider market downturn, according to MarketWatch data.
