CEOs of JSE-listed mining, banking, and luxury goods giants are some of the country’s biggest earners, earning tens of millions of rands in salaries each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While their salaries may seem outrageous to the rest of the country\u2014and even their shareholders\u2014chief executives oversee some of the largest corporate institutions with the biggest profits in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In South Africa, CEOs also face the challenge of promoting diversity and inclusion due to the country’s history of apartheid, which has left a legacy of inequality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This requires developing strategies for diversity, equity, and inclusion, while also managing operational challenges such as fluctuating exchange rates, skills shortages, and unreliable infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
CEOs are under intense scrutiny from stakeholders and are expected to deliver results and comply with corporate governance standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking at the basic guaranteed salaries of these JSE-listed CEOs, the companies they lead make thousands of rands in profit for every rand paid to them in remuneration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the full picture can only be seen once bonuses and incentives are added to the mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These big corporations have in the past argued that it is inaccurate to include incentives paid to executives in a salary vs. profit comparison for any given year because shares are given and exercised at different times and do not necessarily reflect, or are tied to, the year being assessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While incentives and bonuses are promised in different financial years, they are paid out in a given financial year and thus impact shareholders’ bottom lines in that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The executive with the best salary-to-profit ratio is former Prosus N.V. CEO Bob van Dijk, whose R111 million salary in the full year of 2023 provided R31,414 in profit for every rand he earned<\/strong> the group that year\u00a0(total comprehensive income: $10 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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