Huge Tesco boss pay exposes myth of ‘cost of living crisis’

Tesco’s CEO pay increased by almost a million last year from £9.93m to £10.8m. Fat cat salaries and the profits of privatised essentials show the cost of living crisis is manufactured. In fact, Tesco sets a stark example.

Manufactured, not a real ‘cost of living’

The real cost of living is when essentials come at cost price. Whether that’s supermarkets, housing, water or energy, the concept remains. But the supermarket giant Tesco made £3.2bn in operating profit in 2025/26. Also, its CEO’s pay packet, which includes his bonus, is entirely unnecessary. Instead, we should have cost price supermarkets. This would avoid middleman wealth extraction.

And when it comes to housing, the average private renter spends an average of £902 a month. That accounts for 41% of a £2,200 take-home salary. In total, this adds up to £119 billion a year across 11 million renters.

Instead, we should have cost price housing. That means the person can pay back the cost of building and designing the house in affordable monthly payments. Then, the person can enjoy full home ownership. This would end the housing bubble and bring down prices across the board. Much like Tesco could lead the way in supermarkets by implementing similar affordability principles.

Easy money, extractive practises

The alternative approach demonstrates that the current ‘cost of living crisis’ is manufactured. That’s because landlords would no longer be extracting over a hundred billion per year in rent that doesn’t go towards home ownership for the tenant, and retailers such as Tesco wouldn’t be able to profit excessively from essentials.

Water and energy companies are also making significant profit that further shows the ‘cost of living crisis’ is manufactured by the current system. In 2022/23, water utilities in the UK made £1.7bn — almost double what they made in 2018/19. And in the first quarter of 2026, BP more than doubled its profits. Clearly, the same trend is seen with Tesco in food retail.

Modernising the UK could further lower costs. That’s through automating industries like farming and vehicles. Re-imagining the system to ensure people pay cost price for essentials would transform the affordability crisis into one where people have the money to enjoy life.

Featured image via Leon Neal/Getty Images

By James Wright

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