ASX 100 bosses now earning 55 times their workers’ pay, according to new data

The pay gap between Australia’s top company bosses and their workers has blown out again, according to closely-watched data that also reveals the 10 best-paid ASX chief executives take home a combined $235 million.

The annual study by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors shows average ASX 100 CEO realised pay in the 2024 financial year jumped to 55 times average adult earnings as bosses took home an increased average of $5.7 million, up 14 per cent on the year earlier.

That’s up from 50 times in 2023 but still well off the hefty multiples in the likes of the US where bosses can pocket eye-watering amounts often running into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The ACSI data focuses on realised or take-home pay, which captures the market of performance-linked stock rewards that actually vest with the bosses. It is seen as a more accurate measure of executive pay than reported or statutory pay, which only records the accounting value of the stock when it is issued.

News Corp’s US-based CEO Robert Thomson was again the ASX’s highest paid boss on $41.88m, followed by Lovisa Holdings’ since departed Victor Herrero on $39.55m, even though the jewellery retailer wasn’t ranked in the top 100.

Macquarie’s Shemara Wikramanayake was the highest paid, Australian-based chief executive on $29.76m ahead of Goodman’s Greg Goodman on $26.83m.

Mineral Resources’ beleaguered boss Chris Ellison’s was WA’s best paid, credited with $14.75m of pay - his reported pay for the year was $5.99m - thanks to $12.1m of performance-related shares he pocketed in September 2023. The shares have since plunged in value to less than $4m off the back of the corporate governance scandals that engulfed Mr Ellison last year and weaker lithium prices.

Wesfarmers’ Rob Scott ($12.98m) and lithium player PLS’ Dale Henderson ($9.22m) also made ACSI’s top-20 highest paid, along with made BHP’s Mike Henry ($19.28m), Rio Tinto’s Jakob Stausholm ($19.06m) and Commonwealth Bank’s Matt Comyn ($9.09m).

In what has been a constant across the history of the ACSI study, almost all of the bosses received a bonus, no matter the performance of their company.

Of the 150 ASX 200 bosses included in the data, just five of the 142 eligible for a bonus in 2024 missed out. Those who did qualify received an average 66 per cent of the maximum reward.

The average ASX 100 bonus actually dipped to $2.2m from $2.3m, but only because Ms Wikramanayake’s large reward was smaller.

ACSI also revealed that golden parachute payouts to CEOs by ASX 100 companies fell to a 15-year low, totalling just $8.4m in 2024, down from $33.52m previously.

The group credits the drop to reforms to the Corporations Act after the Global Financial Crisis in 2009, including putting payouts to a shareholder vote, and growing community and investor scrutiny of executive pay in recent years. Prior to the change, termination payouts were running at more than $80m a year.

“Opponents at the time warned that the changes were draconian imposts that would leave Australian companies at a competitive disadvantage,” ACSI super chief executive Louise Davidson said.

“A decade and a half later, the sky has not fallen. Australia’s leading companies still have highly capable CEOs, both home-grown and from overseas, and talented executives have accepted that remuneration packages weighted strongly towards performance-based equity align them more fully with their shareholder owners,” Ms Davidson said.

“There will always be outliers, but the long-term trends on fixed pay, realised pay and termination pay show that the diligence of Australian investors and boards has meant that CEO pay levels have generally avoided the pay break-out that we see in markets like the US.”

Former Fortescue chief executive Fiona Hick was the beneficiary of the biggest of the ASX 100’s six termination payouts in 2024, receiving $2.1m. The highest in the ASX200, however, was the $4.36m paid to Red 5 boss Mark Williams after the company’s merger with Silver Lake Resources, though ACSI said most of that benefit derived from the accelerated vesting of his long-term incentive equity.