FACT CHECK: Image Allegedly Showing Tesco CEO Is Actually Business Editor For The Times

Anna Mock | Fact Check Reporter

A photo shared on Facebook allegedly shows Ken Murphy, the CEO of British grocery chain Tesco. 

Verdict: False

The photo actually shows a business editor for The Times, not Murphy.

Fact Check:

A Black Tesco customer said she was “racially profiled” and then offered bananas while shopping with her two kids, according to The Independent. The woman, 42-year-old Serlina Boyd, later questioned the staff’s training and received an apology from the company, the outlet reported.

A Facebook post allegedly shows Tesco CEO Ken Murphy. The post shared a headshot of a man with brown hair and glasses, allegedly Murphy.

“Tesco CEO Ken Murphy was getting £4,740,000 a year last year, but that wasn’t enough so he has more than doubled his salary to £9,930,000 a year #CostOfLivingCrisis,” the post reads. 

The photo is miscaptioned, however. A reverse image search reveals that the image actually shows Richard Fletcher, a business editor for The Times. Check Your Fact located a genuine photo of Murphy featured in a 2019 Telegraph article.

Unrelated to the image, the claim made in the post that Murphy’s salary has doubled to £9.9m is true, according to The Guardian. (RELATED: Image Does Not Show Authentic Times Of Israel Headline)

Check Your Fact has reached out to a spokesperson for The Times for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.

This is not the first time a miscaptioned image has gone viral. Check Your Fact recently debunked an image claiming to show musician Jason Derulo falling down the stairs at the 2024 Met Gala.

Anna Mock

Fact Check Reporter

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