Former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards, who resigned from the BBC on medical advice in April, saw his salary increase by £40,000 last year. In the last financial year, Edwards' salary was between £475,000 - £479,999, the BBC's latest annual report shows. He received between £435,000 and £439,999 in the year 2022/2023.
Edwards left the BBC after being named last year as the presenter at the centre of days of allegations and speculation. He had been off-air since July 2023. The Sun newspaper first reported that the presenter, who at that point was unnamed, was alleged to have paid a young person for sexually explicit photos.
Edwards's departure came nine months after his wife said he had been admitted to hospital with "serious mental health issues". Police did not take action against him, saying there was no evidence that a criminal offence had been committed. He was also the corporation's highest-paid newsreader last year.
The BBC confirmed when Edwards resigned that the presenter had not been paid off as part of his departure. Speaking on Tuesday, the BBC's director general Tim Davie said: "No-one wants to waste a pound but we need to act proportionately and fairly and I think that's what we did." Gary Lineker topped the list of the BBC's best-paid stars for a seventh year in a row, earning £1,350,000 - £1,354,999 in the last financial year.
BBC Radio 2's Zoe Ball was the second-highest earner behind the Match of the Day presenter, with £950,000 to £954,999, down £30.