The Australian Domino’s Pizza CEO is earning more than a slice of pizza as he tops the list of highest payed bosses in the country.
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) found that the highest paid ASX200 CEO in the 2017 financial year was Don Meij from Domino’s.
With more than $36 million to his name that year, Meij’s earnings supersede CEO’s from other large companies in Australia.
The second highest earners were Peter and Steven Lowy from Westfield Corp, who earned about $25.9m.
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Macquarie Group’s CEO, Nicholas Moore wasn’t far off second place with a generous $25.2m.
Persistent and increasing bonus payments drove remuneration to record levels, according to the latest analysis from ACSI.
The pay packets have been the highest reported for ASX100 CEOs since the study began 17 years ago.
The report found that all but six of the 80 CEOs eligible for a bonus received one.
The median bonuses awarded to CEOs was at 70.5 per cent of their maximum entitlement.
ACSI chief executive Louise Davidson said at a time when public trust in businesses was low and wage growth was week, board decisions to pay large bonuses for hitting budget targets rather then for exceptional performance was “especially tone deaf”.
“This may be a sign that boards have lost sight of the link between a company’s social licence and the expectations of communities and investors.
“It’s a sad state of affairs when bonuses have become such a sure thing.”
If the issue was not addressed voluntarily, legislative intervention may be needed to give shareholders a greater say, Davidson said.
“We will be looking closely at bonus outcomes in the upcoming reporting season. If they’re not transparent and reflective of performance, we will be recommending that our members vote against those remuneration reports.”
There were too few female CEOs in the ASX200 for ACSI to analyse gender pay equality in its survey.
ACSI counted more CEOs called Andrew in the ASX100 sample than women.
Other top earners included Chris Rex from Ramsay Health Care at $22.3m and Alan Joyce from Qantas Airways at $11.2m.