Tim Steiner's £94m Pay Tests Ocado Shareholder Patience

Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner has collected roughly £94m in pay and share awards since the company listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2010, according to an analysis of the grocer's annual reports by the High Pay Centre. The pay haul comes despite Ocado's share price now trading below its IPO level.

The High Pay Centre, a think tank that tracks executive compensation, said the payments raise concerns about corporate governance at the online grocery technology group. Steiner, who co-founded the business, sits on the board alongside a remuneration committee that approved the awards. The same committee includes directors who have served for years.

Shareholder advisory groups have flagged the structure of Ocado's pay scheme before. The company's long-term incentive plan has awarded Steiner large tranches of shares even as the stock has underperformed the broader market. Ocado shares peaked above 2,900p in 2020 during pandemic-fueled demand for grocery delivery, then lost most of those gains as competition from Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Amazon narrowed the online delivery premium.

The governance question is not new. In several recent years, more than 20% of Ocado shareholders voted against the company's remuneration report. The next annual general meeting is scheduled for July. Investors will again cast a binding vote on the pay policy.

Ocado's business model has two sides. Its UK retail operation with Marks & Spencer has struggled to gain market share. The technology licensing arm, which sells automated warehouse systems to grocers like Kroger in the U.S. and Auchan in Europe, has signed deals but has not delivered the profit acceleration the company projected. Licensing revenue grew 8% last year, short of internal targets.

Steiner defends his pay by pointing to Ocado's global ambition and the technology investments. The High Pay Centre argues the gap between CEO compensation and shareholder returns is hard to justify when the stock is below its float price. The median FTSE 100 CEO made roughly £4.5m in 2025.

The AGM vote will test whether large institutional holders see the pay as a retention tool or a governance failure. Glass Lewis and ISS have both issued critical reports on Ocado's remuneration structure in prior years. Their recommendations this time will shape the vote outcome.