Africa: CEOs and Their Salaries of Millions - Is it Par for the Course?

Pixabay
(file photo)
23 July 2019
allAfrica.com
blog By Esther Rose

Cape Town — A chief executive officer (CEO) is elected by the board of a company and its shareholders. He or she is the highest-ranking executive in a company, whose primary responsibilities include making major corporate decisions and managing the overall operations and resources of a company. The CEO also acts as the main point of communication between the board of directors (the board) and corporate operations, and is the public face of the company.

With all this in mind, one wonders if the pressures of such a position then warrants the enormous salaries that many CEOs earn. I took a look at salaries earned at the top 12 companies on the Top 40 listed on the JSE and this is what it looks like.

Naspers

Leading the pack should be Bob Van Dijk, CEO of Naspers, a multinational internet and media group, offering services in more than 130 countries. His take-home pay was ... wait for it ... R1,7 billion including other bonuses or incentives.

So how do the rest match up? Not by a long shot - but let's have a look at the numbers for 2018:

Investec

The bank's CEO Steven Koseff earned his remuneration in pounds. The basic salary came to £1.7m or R31.17m. Total remuneration amounted to £3.5m or R64m.

FirstRand

The bank's CEO JP Burger's guaranteed package amounts to R10.2m. His guaranteed and variable pay amounted to R37.58m but his total remuneration including incentives amounted to R49.4m.

Woolworths

The retailer's CEO Ian Moir earned a basic salary of R18.9m, but total remuneration came to R30.6m. This even after the disastrous foray into the Australian market and the halving of the Woolworths share price.

MTN's Rob Shuter received a total remuneration package of R42.9 million in December 2018.

Vodacom 

Shameel Joosub earned total remuneration  - R50m in December 2018.

Discovery Medical Aid

Adrian Gore's basic salary is R6.59m but his total remuneration - R19.8m.

Aspen Pharmacare

Stephen Saad's basic pay was R7.2m. His total remuneration, including all shares and bonuses, amounted to R17.51m

Remgro

The investment holding company's CEO JJ Durand earned a fixed salary of R13.3m, his total salary amounted to R13.9m.

Sasol

The energy and chemical's company's joint CEOs each earned more than R25m.

Stephen Cornell, paid in US dollars, basic salary -R26.4m, while his total remuneration  - R46.2m.

While Bongani Nqwababa's basic salary came to R10.3m and his total remuneration  - R25.9m.

Growthpoint

The property company's CEO Norbert Sasse'sbasic salary amounted to R5.73m while his total remuneration - R25.3m.

African Rainbow Minerals

CEO of the mining company Mike Schmidt earned a basic salary of R7m, but his total remuneration  -  R23.5m.

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