UK: THE PERFORMANCE PAY RACE - Top UK executives still trail their US counterparts in the salary stakes, but ...

THE PERFORMANCE PAY RACE - Top UK executives still trail their US counterparts in the salary stakes, but they may soon sample some of the joys of rarefied American-style packages that rely heavily on long-term share incentives, particularly after mergers and acquisitions. Get ready for some astronomical figures, says David Smith.

It all started, perhaps, with Richard Giordano, the American who used to run BOC. Like today's foreign football stars, Giordano did not come cheap. For years he topped the executive pay league, and by some distance, but the reasons were straightforward enough. Operating in the global management marketplace he could always take his talent elsewhere.