Business

The man making R294,900 a day running the biggest beer company in South Africa

Malcolm Libera

 ·26 Jul 2026

Over the past three years, AB InBev has paid its global CEO R294,876 per day in remuneration, according to available reports.

An analysis of the beverage and brewing company’s remuneration reports by BusinessTech shows that the CEO Michel Doukeris earned R322.89 million between 2023 and 2025.

AB InBev is the world’s largest beer company and the dominant player in South Africa through its subsidiary, South African Breweries (SAB).

The group has held that position since its $107 billion acquisition of SABMiller in 2016, which brought South Africa’s largest brewer under its control.

SAB has long been the country’s leading beer producer, with roots dating back to Charles Glass’s Castle Brewery in the late 19th century.

Its key brands include Castle Lager, Carling Black Label and Hansa Pilsener. Its established distribution network has helped AB InBev maintain its top position in the local market.

Doukeris, a Brazilian businessman born in 1973, became CEO of AB InBev in July 2021 after succeeding long-serving chief executive Carlos Brito.

He joined the company in 1996 and held several leadership positions across Latin America, China, Asia Pacific and North America before taking over the top job.

He studied chemical engineering at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil and completed a master’s degree at Fundação Getulio Vargas.

He later attended executive programmes at the Wharton School and the Kellogg School of Management in the United States.

While his total remuneration appears substantial, the company’s annual reports show that most of his earnings depend on performance-related incentives rather than a fixed salary.

Between 2023 and 2025, Doukeris received total remuneration of $19.51 million, equivalent to R322.89 million using the exchange rate published in the company’s 2025 annual report.

This excludes long-term share awards whose eventual value depends on future market performance.

It should be noted that AB InBev’s annual reports do not disclose Michel Doukeris’ individual remuneration for 2021 and 2022.

Compensation for those years was reported only as a combined figure for the company’s entire Executive Committee.

As a result, the remuneration figures analysed cover only the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, when his individual pay was disclosed in the annual reports.

His remuneration consisted of R101.95 million in 2023, R126.61 million in 2024 and R94.34 million in 2025.

His performance as CEO was key

His base salary increased steadily from $1.39 million in 2023 to $1.53 million in 2025. However, annual bonuses accounted for the largest portion of his remuneration and fluctuated depending on the company’s financial performance.

The reports explained that bonuses are determined using a combination of company, business unit and individual performance targets.

These include measures such as revenue growth, profitability, long-term value creation and sustainability objectives.

For 2023, the company said it “partially achieved its aggregated company and business unit performance targets”, which resulted in Doukeris receiving a bonus of approximately $4.54 million.

His highest remuneration came in 2024 after AB InBev exceeded its financial targets. According to the report, the company achieved 118% of its aggregated company and business unit performance goals, while Doukeris achieved 78% of his individual targets.

“The combined Company, Business Unit and Individual performance targets resulted in an aggregate payout achievement of 106% for the CEO,” the company said.

As a result, he received a bonus of €5.46 million, equivalent to approximately $5.92 million. His remuneration declined in 2025 after the company fell short of several financial objectives. 

Although the reports indicate he achieved 96% of his individual targets, company performance weighed heavily on the final outcome, with one key Organic EBITDA target reaching only 58%.

Consequently, his annual bonus fell to approximately $3.91 million, reducing his total remuneration for the year despite his strong individual performance.

The company’s latest financial results suggest business momentum has continued into 2026. 

During the first quarter, AB InBev reported a 5.8% increase in revenue, a 27% rise in non-alcoholic beer revenue and 5.3% growth in normalised EBITDA to $5.44 billion.

The totals below reflect cash and immediate benefits, excluding the unvested, variable-market-value of his Long-Term Incentives, which are granted in shares rather than a single cash equivalent in the reports.