{
  "id": 1738545,
  "title": "Diageo boss ‘drastic’ Dave Lewis could pocket £20m in pay deal",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/diageo-boss-drastic-dave-lewis-could-pocket-20m-in-pay-deal",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-18T15:03:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/diageo-boss-dave-lewis-could-pocket-20m-pay-deal/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Sir Dave Lewis, the chief executive of drinks giant Diageo, could walk away with up to £20 million in pay next year, according to the company's remuneration report. This figure nearly triples the final pay packet of his predecessor, Debra Crew, who left the FTSE 100 firm in July last year. Lewis, known for his dramatic turnarounds, has reportedly told some of his teams to cut up to 30% of their headcount. The executive could pocket £20.02 million if he meets performance targets and Diageo's share price increases by 50%. However, without the share price bonus, Lewis could be paid £15 million if he takes home all available bonuses. The target salary is £9.4 million, which is still over double the £3.6 million Crew earned in her last full year in charge. The new long-term incentive scheme, proposed by Diageo and to be put to shareholders in November, covers the three years from June 2026. If approved, Lewis could claim up to £15 million in September 2029. Diageo recently announced job cuts, shedding nearly 2,000 positions in the year to June, with the majority of the cuts occurring in Africa.",
  "summary": "Sir Dave Lewis, who is overseeing sweeping job cuts at drinks giant Diageo, could take home as much as £20m in pay next year. The chief executive of the Guinness and Smirnoff maker could make as much as £20m in the year to June 2027, though he is more likely to make about £9m, according [...]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}