The one position in a company where you could end up earning more than the CEO
New data shows that executive pay is on the rebound after a slow 2024. However, CFO pay has seen a significant increase and could soon match or surpass that of CEOs.
PwC’s latest Directors’ Remuneration and Trends Report for 2025 shows that executive pay across the JSE Top 200 has bounced back — but not evenly.
According to Leila Ebrahimi, reward and remuneration design expert at PwC, the data paints a fascinating picture of executive pay with “a bit of rebound, a bit of recalibration, and certainly rising scrutiny.”
After a slow 2024, CEO pay rose by 8%, while CFO packages increased by a massive 19%. “This comes at a time when the economy is still under pressure and conversations around fairness and transparency are growing louder,” Ebrahimi said.
For CEOs, the rebound was driven mainly by long-term incentives rather than salary increases. “Increases to total guaranteed pay were actually fairly modest at 4%,” Ebrahimi explained.
“The overall 8% rise came mostly from a 40% increase in long-term incentives.” She said that this reflects a shift in how companies reward leaders—moving away from strict compliance and toward competitiveness, as seen in the UK and US.
“We’re seeing the first signs of a change in pay mix and structure coming through,” she added. The big story, however, is the CFO. “Long-term incentives for CFOs have risen nearly 60%,” Ebrahimi said.
In many companies, this means the CFO’s total package could come close to — or even exceed — the CEO’s.
She explained that this is partly because CFOs in South Africa have historically been paid less than those in global markets.
“In the US or UK, there’s less of a distinction between CEOs and CFOs. So I think there’s some catching up to global norms happening.”
However, there’s more behind this change than just global alignment. The role of finance and transformation has become more strategically critical in a world that’s increasingly financialised.
“CFOs are now deeply involved in driving growth, managing change, and shaping long-term strategy—not just managing the numbers,” she said.
It’s a team effort
Ebrahimi believes the data points to a broader shift in how companies are thinking about performance and reward.
“We are starting to see a genuine move toward performance-linked, higher-geared long-term incentives,” she added.
PwC’s research into the psychology of pay also reveals that executives tend to be risk-averse—a trait that Ebrahimi believes can hinder innovation.
To change this, companies are introducing more pay structures that reward bold decisions and long-term thinking.
“It’s about encouraging executives to think differently—to be more entrepreneurial. We might be creating executives who become architects of change rather than custodians of the status quo,” she explained.
For her, that mindset shift is key to driving economic growth. “Growth is not linear, and you need to incentivise innovative growth,” Ebrahimi said.
“All executives need to pull together to make that happen—it’s not just the CEO. And this change reflects that.”
Despite this, fairness and optics are becoming more important than ever in South Africa’s deeply unequal society.
“Remuneration committees are spending a lot of time thinking about what an appropriate pay gap is,” Ebrahimi said.
“At the end of the day, though, we’ve got to focus on growing the pie for everyone. We need to create prosperity to be able to cascade it down.”
Even with the rebound, South African executive pay is still far below global levels. The US is roughly twice the UK, and the UK is about five times our median South African executive pay.
However, some investors are showing signs of frustration. While shareholder support for remuneration policies remains above 90%, Ebrahimi pointed out that the number of companies receiving less than 50% support for their implementation reports has more than doubled.
She explained that this usually happens when investors believe pay outcomes don’t match performance.
As regulation tightens and transparency increases, Ebrahimi added that remuneration committees need to rethink their approach.
“We’re seeing a new wave of regulation, and it’s important not to treat it as a tick-box exercise,” she warned.
“It’s an opportunity to think differently about pay—to really consider what we’re rewarding and how we can drive the kind of growth and innovation our economy needs.”
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