It’s a hard-knock life for some.
The average CEO of an Australian healthcare company is a 49-year-old man who has been in the role for about 12 years and is taking home a median paycheque of about $4 million, according to a new report from OpenDirector.
Two healthcare company CEOs are in the top 10 of the highest paid bosses in the country, but the highest paid female CEO, Australian Clinical Labs’ Melinda McIntosh is “only” taking home $3.9 million.
The authors of the report acknowledged that calculating CEO remuneration was a “messy” business, but any way you cut the methodology, nobody at the top of the healthcare tree is struggling to pay their power bills.
When it comes to reported pay – sometimes called audited remuneration or statutory – ResMed CEO Michael Farrell is the second-highest paid boss of any sector in the country with an RP of $22.6 million. That’s a 4% increase on the previous year.
Paul McKenzie, CEO of global biopharma CSL comes in 7th on the list with an RP of $13.8 million. Despite the troubles the company has had of late, that’s a 10% increase on the previous year.
Reported pay is one thing but what a CEO’s take-home or realised pay is depends on other factors and add-ons such as short-term incentives or bonuses – the amount paid for reaching performance goals set for the current year; long-term incentives – often paid in company equity and based on a comparison of “total shareholder return” across the CEO’s peer group; and other payments such as sign-on bonus, retention payments and special bonuses associated with capital raising.
Michael Farrell holds his second place on the realised pay ladder with a $45.6 million take-home figure.
Vikesh Ramsunder, CEO of the pharmaceutical and retail business Sigma Healthcare, jumps into the top 10 on this measure, landing in third place with a take-home pay of $26.8 million.
Mr McKenzie was paid the highest STI in the sector – $4.3 million (a 20% increase YonY).
Healthcare reported the highest median reported pay of all sectors at $4.28 million, a massive 88% increase from the previous year.
“This jump is partly due to the sector having a small sample of 18 companies measured across both years, which makes the median less stable,” said the report’s authors.
“Nonetheless, several major companies in the sector offer substantial remuneration, including ResMed, CSL, Ansell, Sonic Healthcare, Fisher & Paykel, Sigma, and Cochlear.
“Cochlear is near the median, with Diggory Howlett earning $4.6 million – a 28% decline from the prior year.”
ACL’s CEO Ms McGrath experienced one of the largest increases in pay in the country, leaping 149%, or $2.35 million to a total of $3.94 million.
By contrast, Cochlear’s Mr Howitt dropped 28% to 4.63 million.
Read the full report here.
