{"id":840791,"date":"2025-10-26T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=840791"},"modified":"2025-10-24T16:51:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:51:23","slug":"the-one-position-in-a-company-where-you-could-end-up-earning-more-than-the-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/840791\/the-one-position-in-a-company-where-you-could-end-up-earning-more-than-the-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"The one position in a company where you could end up earning more than the CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PwC\u2019s latest Directors\u2019 Remuneration and Trends Report for 2025 shows that executive pay across the JSE Top 200 has bounced back \u2014 but not evenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Leila Ebrahimi, reward and remuneration design expert at PwC, the data paints a fascinating picture of executive pay with \u201ca bit of rebound, a bit of recalibration, and certainly rising scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a slow 2024, CEO pay rose by 8%, while CFO packages increased by a massive 19%. \u201cThis comes at a time when the economy is still under pressure and conversations around fairness and transparency are growing louder,\u201d Ebrahimi said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For CEOs, the rebound was driven mainly by long-term incentives rather than salary increases. \u201cIncreases to total guaranteed pay were actually fairly modest at 4%,\u201d Ebrahimi explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe overall 8% rise came mostly from a 40% increase in long-term incentives.\u201d She said that this reflects a shift in how companies reward leaders\u2014moving away from strict compliance and toward competitiveness, as seen in the UK and US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing the first signs of a change in pay mix and structure coming through,\u201d she added. The big story, however, is the CFO. \u201cLong-term incentives for CFOs have risen nearly 60%,\u201d Ebrahimi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many companies, this means the CFO\u2019s total package could come close to \u2014 or even exceed \u2014 the CEO\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that this is partly because CFOs in South Africa have historically been paid less than those in global markets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the US or UK, there\u2019s less of a distinction between CEOs and CFOs. So I think there\u2019s some catching up to global norms happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there\u2019s more behind this change than just global alignment. The role of finance and transformation has become more strategically critical in a world that\u2019s increasingly financialised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCFOs are now deeply involved in driving growth, managing change, and shaping long-term strategy\u2014not just managing the numbers,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a team effort<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Leila Ebrahimi, reward and remuneration design expert at PwC<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Ebrahimi believes the data points to a broader shift in how companies are thinking about performance and reward.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are starting to see a genuine move toward performance-linked, higher-geared long-term incentives,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PwC\u2019s research into the psychology of pay also reveals that executives tend to be risk-averse\u2014a trait that Ebrahimi believes can hinder innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To change this, companies are introducing more pay structures that reward bold decisions and long-term thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about encouraging executives to think differently\u2014to be more entrepreneurial. We might be creating executives who become architects of change rather than custodians of the status quo,\u201d she explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For her, that mindset shift is key to driving economic growth. \u201cGrowth is not linear, and you need to incentivise innovative growth,\u201d Ebrahimi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll executives need to pull together to make that happen\u2014it\u2019s not just the CEO. And this change reflects that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, fairness and optics are becoming more important than ever in South Africa\u2019s deeply unequal society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRemuneration committees are spending a lot of time thinking about what an appropriate pay gap is,\u201d Ebrahimi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, though, we\u2019ve got to focus on growing the pie for everyone. We need to create prosperity to be able to cascade it down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that this usually happens when investors believe pay outcomes don\u2019t match performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As regulation tightens and transparency increases, Ebrahimi added that remuneration committees need to rethink their approach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a new wave of regulation, and it\u2019s important not to treat it as a tick-box exercise,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to think differently about pay\u2014to really consider what we\u2019re rewarding and how we can drive the kind of growth and innovation our economy needs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New data shows that executive pay is on the rebound after a slow 2024. However, one position has seen a significant increase and could soon match or surpass that of CEOs.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":702685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[23893,2407],"class_list":["post-840791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-directors-remuneration-and-trends-report","tag-pwc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840802,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840791\/revisions\/840802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}