New report shows CEOs earning 55 times more than the average employee
US-based News Corp CEO Robert Thomson has topped the list of the highest-paid chief executives among companies listed on the Australian stock exchange, according to new data.
The annual analysis by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) revealed that Thomson had a realised pay of $41.8 million for 2024 as he heads the US-based mass media company.
US-based CEOs continue to feature heavily in the top 20 highest paid CEOs on a realised pay basis with News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson topping the list with realised pay of $41.88 million, the report says.
The research found fixed pay and total realised pay, defined as fixed pay and bonuses, for ASX100 CEOs has been largely flat in the past decade, with median realised pay for ASX100 CEOs was $4.15 million compared to $3.96 million in FY14.
Coming after Thomson was Victor Herrero, former CEO of Lovisa Holdings, which is not in the ASX100 cohort, who had a realised pay of $39.5 million in 2024.
The ACSI noted that this is the first time since Andrew Barkla, former CEO of IDP Education, that a CEO from outside the ASX100 topped the realised pay tables.
Herrero's realised pay for FY24 was higher than the realised pay of the next five highest paid ASX101-200 CEOs for FY24 combined and arose under the headline-grabbing incentive arrangement he was offered by Lovisa on joining the company in October 2021, it added.
After Herrero is Shemara Wikramanayake, CEO of Macquarie Group, who ranked third with a realised pay of $29.7 million in the past year.
According to the report, Wikramanayake is the highest-paid CEO in the firms listed in the ASX100 in FY24. She switched rankings with Goodman Group CEO Greg Goodman, who ranked second in the ASX100 and fourth among the ASX200 firms with a realised pay of $26.8 million.
The full list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the ASX200 for FY24, including foreign-based firms, shows:
Robert Thomson – News Corp ($41.8 million)
Victor Herrero – Lovisa Holdings ($39.5 million)
Shemara Wikramanayake – Macquarie Group ($29.7 million)
Greg Goodman – Goodman Group ($26.8 million)
Mick Farrell – ResMed ($20.05 million)
Mike Henry – BHP Group ($19.2 million)
Jakob Stausholm – Rio Tinto ($19.06 million)
Chris Ellison – Mineral Resources ($14.7 million)
Rob Scott – Wesfarmers ($12.9 million)
Stuart Irving – Computershare ($11.4 million)
Widening wage gap
Meanwhile, the report also revealed a growing wage gap between CEOs and average employees. The median realised CEO pay in the ASX100 was $4.15 million, up from $3.96 million.
Average realised pay for ASX100 CEOs was 55 times the average earnings of an Australian worker (FY23: 50), the report read.
It noted that while there was a slight narrowing over the 11 years of realised pay data, the gap has remained between $5 million and $6 million every year since 2014, except for FY17 and FY21.
The findings come after previous research from Oxfam found that compensation among CEOs around the world soared to $4.3 million in 2024.
This is equivalent to a 50% increase in real terms since 2019, compared to the 0.9% growth in average workers' pay.
https://www.hcamag.com/au/specialisation/leadership/revealed-the-highest-paid-ceos-in-australia/539665
