Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, one of the country’s best-paid CEOs, announced on Tuesday that he would not be taking home a salary for the rest of the financial year, as the coronavirus played havoc with the airline.
With roughly four months left in the financial year, this equates to a pay cut of about a third of his annual salary — or $3.3 million, based on his reported pay of $10 million last year.
With Australian companies under financial pressure from the virus, and business groups going cap in hand for tax relief to avoid having to lay off workers, Crikey decided to take a look at how much some of them could save if their CEOs took an Alan Joyce-style four-month pay cut.
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci
Annual salary: $7.7 million
Four-month pay cut: $2.6 million
Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott
Annual salary: $6.7 million
Four-month pay cut: $2.2 million
Telstra CEO Andy Penn
Annual salary: $5 million
Four-month pay cut: $1.6 million
CBA CEO Matt Comyn
Annual salary: $3.4 million
Four-month pay cut: $1.1 million
Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques
Annual salary: $8 million
Four-month pay cut: $2.6 million
Macquarie CEO Shemara Wikramanayake
Annual salary: $18 million
Four-month pay cut: $6 million
So, that’s a “saving” of more than $16 million from six CEOs, excluding Joyce. That’s not to mention the options, shares and bonuses that top executives are wont to get. Food for thought.
It would probably be a lot more effective as a signal, if senior management, rather than just CEO’s took a hefty pay cut till the end of this financial year. (Can’t see it catching on though.)
No doubt we’ll just have lame stunts like CEO sleepouts in support of the homeless as usual. 🙁
I mainly read Crikey and The Guardian and in one of those publications I read that Alan Joyce was the highest paid CEO in Australia and last year earned $24 million (maybe some if that was in shares).
Hard to know which figure is right but regardless of that don’t think he will be too badly off whatever figure is right.
As if any one person can make a huge company successful…..utter nonsense.
My apologies to Crikey and The Guardian. My source was the ABC where they state his salary last year was $23.9 million.
Someone’s facts are wrong and you are possibly giving Joyce credit where none due in my book.
His salary of $23.9 million is obscene.
His total remuneration, including the value of share options and other long term incentives, was above $20 million. His base salary is ~$10 million.
Too often, especially as it relates to A Joyce, many commentators (including in the MSM) don’t understand the difference.
After his comments about casual workers supposedly having put aside 25% of their wages to cover loss of salary during sickness, I think Christian Porter, (Minister for Industrial Relations if you don’t mind) should set an example by foregoing his salary for the rest of the financial year. Perhaps the Minister for Employment, Senator Cash, could do the same – as a morale booster for the rest of us.
I, like many others ask, what are these men doing to be worth their millions? Sure they manage big corporations, but those big corporations are providing goods and services that most people want sometime. They are supported by large bureaucracies that look at the fine detail and mostly try to work within the complex corporations law regime.
Greed is not necessarily good, nor does ultra high salaries get the ‘best’ people in any other way than the most ruthless money grubbers. Things need to change.
I suggest CEOs cut their salaries by a third or a half permanently.
They are ridiculous.