--- title: "Diageo boss ‘drastic’ Dave Lewis could pocket £20m in pay deal" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/296247222.md" description: "Diageo CEO Sir Dave Lewis could earn up to £20m in the year to June 2027, nearly tripling his predecessor's pay. This potential payout is tied to a new long-term incentive scheme requiring significant share price growth and performance targets. The remuneration report comes as Lewis oversees a turnaround involving job cuts of up to 30% in some teams and a recent reduction of nearly 2,000 jobs globally, amid a 3% sales dip." datetime: "2026-08-18T15:11:47.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/296247222.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296247222.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/296247222.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # Diageo boss ‘drastic’ Dave Lewis could pocket £20m in pay deal Tuesday 18 August 2026 4:03 pm Add as a preferred source on Google "Drastic" Dave Lewis has launched a turnaround of Diageo (Joe Giddens/PA Wire) 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 to the firm’s remuneration report. This would still nearly triple the final pay packet of his predecessor, Debra Crew, who departed the FTSE 100 firm with immediate effect in July last year. Sir Dave’s is poised to take home a bumper pay packet while preparing to slash jobs across the drinks company. The executive, dubbed “drastic” Dave for his reputation for dramatic turnarounds, has reportedly told some of his teams to cut up to 30 per cent of their headcount. Lewis could take home £20.02m next year if he meets performance targets and sees Diageo increase its share price by 50 per cent. Without the share price bonus, Lewis could be paid £15m if he takes home all available bonuses, though the group’s remuneration report said his “target salary” is £9.4m. This is still more than double the £3.6m Crew was paid in her last full year in charge. Nick Jhangiani, who served as interim chief executive before returning to his role as finance chief, could take home as much as £10.6m next year. Lewis’ bumper bonus deal relates to a new long-term incentive scheme being proposed by Diageo, which will be put to shareholders in November. The incentive plan covers the three years from June 2026 and could allow Lewis to claim as much as £15m in September 2029. Diageo consulted about 40 per cent of its shareholders before proposing this new pay model, it is understood. Lewis, who took charge of Diageo in January, was paid £1.4m for the year to the end of June. ## Diageo sheds jobs The drinks giant slashed nearly 2,000 jobs in the year to June as Lewis battled to reverse the firm’s fortunes, its annual report suggested. Total headcount at the group fell six per cent to 27,938. The majority of these cuts came in Africa, which lost 928 jobs, while 405 corporate roles were slashed across the business. Earlier this month, Lewis told shareholders that there is “hard work ahead” in his efforts to boost sales and profit amid tight consumer spending. Diageo’s posted a three per cent dip in sales to $19.6bn in the year to June, as Lewis unveiled a $850m (£631m) cost-cutting plan. A spokesperson for the group said: “Our 2026 Directors’ Remuneration Policy will be put forward to shareholders for approval at our AGM in November following a comprehensive review by the Remuneration Committee. “Against the backdrop of a challenging operating environment for our sector, our proposed Remuneration Policy is designed to both retain and attract the highest quality leadership required to deliver our new strategy, a turnaround in key markets, and improve our financial performance to deliver long term value for shareholders.” ### Related Stocks - [DEO.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/DEO.US.md) - [DGE.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/DGE.UK.md) ## Related News & Research - [REG - Diageo PLC - Publication of 2026 Annual Report and Form 20-F](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296223610.md) - [Diageo cut headcount by ~2K in 2026 to meet cost-cutting goals](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296256287.md) - [Diageo agrees to reformulate India whisky, rum drinks after flavouring breach, sources say](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296125570.md) - [Key facts: LSE:DGE; $2.3B Asahi buy; India relabel; R. Alexandra Keith](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296189282.md) - [Indian regulator inspects Pernod plant, collects whisky samples in wider industry probe](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296381512.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**