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.
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