Qantas boss tops list of Australia’s highest-paid CEOs

Qantas boss tops list of Australia’s highest-paid CEOs

Qantas Group’s Alan Joyce topped the list of Australia’s highest-paid ASX 200 CEOs in 2018, earning a whopping $23.9 million.

Royal Commission proceedings and “declining public trust” failed to dampen executive bonuses in the last financial year, according to a report by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI).

More than half of ASX100 CEOs received 70 per cent of their maximum entitlement, according to the report, with only one CEO from Australia’s hundred largest companies not awarded an eligible bonus.

Furthermore, only two Australian CEOs realised more than $20 million in FY18 – Joyce and Macquarie Group CEO Nicholas Moore, who earned $23.855 million last year.

The median bonus awarded to an ASX100 CEO in FY18 was $1.61 million, the second-highest in the 10-year history of the ACSI survey.

A Qantas spokesperson told Travel Weekly Joyce’s salary reflected the positive turnaround of FY17, which saw Qantas Group’s market value rise from $2.5 billion to about $10 billion, and its share price rise by around 350 per cent.

“Executive bonuses, which are mostly paid in Qantas shares, were higher as a result because shares awarded at about $1.20 were paid out at closer to $6,” the spokesperson said.

Executive pay – including Joyce’s salary – has since dropped twice “in the two years since the data in this report”, with the company setting aside some $340 million for bonuses to non-executive employees.

In FY19, this includes a further $32 million, according to Qantas’ spokesperson.

Here are the top ten highest-paid CEOs, according to ACSI, based on realised pay in the 2018 financial year:

  1. Alan Joyce, Qantas Airways ($23,876,351)
  2. Nicholas Moore, Macquarie Group ($23,855,580)
  3. Michael Clarke, Treasury Wine Estates ($19,024,334)
  4. Bob Vassie, St Barbara ($13,246,088)
  5. Craig Scroggie, Next DC ($12,515,914)
  6. Sandeep Biswas, Newcrest Mining ($12,083,392)
  7. Brian Benari, Challenger Group ($11,696,001)
  8. Raleigh Finlayson, Saracen Mineral Holdings ($11,284,256)
  9. Andrew Bassat, Seek ($10,744,472)
  10. Colin Goldschmidt, Sonic Healthcare ($10,017,376).

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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