He might run a business with annual revenues of nearly £2bn – but THG boss Matt Moulding’s salary in 2024 was ‘just’ £32,000.
The figure has been revealed by the respected Retail Gazette, which has compared the pay of the UK’s top retail CEOs.
According to the publication, Tesco CEO Ken Murphy topped the table with an eye-watering £9.2m pay package – around 288 times more than bottom-placed Moulding picked up.
The second lowest paid CEO was Gavin Peck, of discount retailer The Works, who was reported to have earned £347,000.
Moulding, who has been under pressure because of THG’s falling share price – which currently stands at 25p – is also said to have waived £726,972 of his salary and his entitlement to participate in the business’ annual bonus plan.
His salary is just over half that of the average wage of a THG staffer, which sits at around £51,000, before benefits.
Back in March, the Colne-born retail expert admitted that he had waived around £15m in salary and expenses payments since 2020, when he took his Manchester-based business public.
“Despite the CEO role normally attracting remuneration of c£3m a year, since IPO I’ve waived all remuneration and expenses, effectively paying to go to work each day,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “I do get free coffee though.
“(My wife) Jodie and the kids are vocal in saying I’m an idiot for not taking the £15m in remuneration these past five years – they’re probably right. But everyone has their own take on parenting.
“In respect of THG, this is mine. Each decision, from investing £110m in THG shares, buying control of Ingenuity at the end of 2024, and waiving £15m remuneration since IPO, has been my best take on parenting my corporate offspring.
“I’m not aware of anyone ever listing on the LSE and taking a similar path. Smart folk. I mean, why would they? Hopefully time will prove it’s been a path worth taking.”
However, before anyone feels sorry for Moulding he’s estimated to have a fortune of around £573m.
THG’s market cap is currently just £350m – compared to its IPO valuation of £5.4bn in 2020.
It’s one of the reasons why THG slipped out the FTSE 250 in June – just three months after it was included.