Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce was Australia's highest-paid chief executive last year, according to a survey based on 'realised' pay, which also ranked Saracen Mineral Holdings managing director Raleigh Finlayson in the top 10.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce was Australia's highest-paid chief executive last year, according to a survey based on 'realised' pay, which also ranked Saracen Mineral Holdings managing director Raleigh Finlayson in the top 10.
According to the report, conducted by Ownership Matters for the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, Mr Joyce's total pay in FY19 was $23.88 million, as he reaped the rewards of a long-term incentive plan.
He narrowly beat Macquarie Group's Nicholas Moore, who earned $23.86 million.
The report calculates the figures based on realised pay, which is reported pay plus the value of any equity (such as options and performance shares) that is 'vested' during the year.
By comparison, Mr Joyce's reported pay in Qantas' annual report was much lower at $10 million.
Mr Joyce had been granted millions of shares in 2014 when they were worth $1.26 each and they vested in 2018 at $5.66, the report said.
The surge helped Mr Joyce rise from eighth place on the list a year earlier, with Mr Moore rising one spot.
Domino's Pizza Enterprises boss Don Meij made $36.8 million to take top spot in 2017, but received a slimmed down $7.1 million in 2018 after becoming the only ASX 100 boss to miss out on a bonus in the year.
The average realised pay for chief executives of Australia's top 100 public companies was $5.6 million, down 7.6 per cent, as several well-paid chief executives retired.
The median realised pay of ASX 100 CEOs was $4.6 million, down 3.2 per cent from 2017, according to the report, which is now in its 18th year.
None of the big four bank chief executives were among the top 10 best-paid CEOs for a second straight year.
The report included pay data for 158 chief executives of the ASX 200, with some companies excluded for various reasons, including that their chief executives were new or differences in international reporting standards would make comparisons difficult.
It calculated Mr Finlayson's annual realised pay at $11.3 million after adding the value of performance shares that vested during the year.
By comparison, Saracen's annual report stated that Mr Finlayson had total remuneration of just $1.9 million.
HIGHEST PAID ASX200 CHIEF EXECUTIVES
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, NextDC, $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
