News Corp CEO Robert Thomson received almost $42 million in 2024, putting him at the top of the list of Australia’s highest-paid CEOs, published today by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI).
But at least News Corp’s gender pay gap is far smaller than those reported among other employers that Australia’s best-paid CEOs lead (at 5.6 per cent across all its employer groups).
Over at Lovisa, women dominate the customer base and account for 94 per cent of the workforce of the affordable jewellery brand. But women are being paid significantly less than men, with the brand reporting a 51.9 per cent gender pay gap to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
And women are earning significantly less than their (now former) CEO Victor Herrero, who took home $39.5 million in 2024, putting him second on the list of Australia’s highest-earning CEOs. A great achievement given Lovisa isn’t even among the largest 140 listed entities in Australia.
Shemara Wikramanayake is the only woman in the top ten and takes third place, earning $29.8 million in 2024 as Macquarie Group CEO, which this year reported a 30.3 per cent gender pay gap.
Macquarie’s gender pay gap is far less than the 66.8 per cent reported at Goodman Group, with CEO John Goodman fourth on the list of Australia’s highest paid CEOs, earning almost $27 million.
The eighth highest-paid CEO is Chris Ellison, who earned almost $15 million last financial year, before declaring during a financial presentation in August 2024 that Mineral Resources needs to get more out of team members with statements like, “I don’t want them leaving the building” for things like a cup of coffee. MinRes currently reports a 21.3 per cent gender pay gap, up from 19.9 per cent the previous year.
Overall, CEOs of listed entities are paid 55 times more than the average worker in Australia, and even more times the average female worker.
On average, the CEOs of the ASX 100 received an almost 14 per cent pay rise over the 2023-24 financial year, much better than the 4.6 per cent the average Australian worker received.
Still, the average CEO to worker disparity is getting smaller in Australia and bucking trends internationally, with the CEOs of the top 100 listed entities in the US earning 348 times the median American worker in 2024
The highest-earning CEOs and their realised pay
- Robert Thomson, CEO, News Corporation, $41,877,137
- Victor Herrero, CEO (has since left), Lovisa Holdings, $39,551,475
- Shemara Wikramanayake, CEO, Macquarie Group. $29,762,181
- Greg Goodman, CEO, Goodman Group, $26,929,318
- Mick Farrell, CEO, ResMed, $20,052,189
- Mike Henry, CEO, BHP Group, $19,282,065
- Jakob Stausholm, CEO, Rio Tinto, 19,064,743
- Chris Elison, CEO, Mineral Resources, 14,752,626
- Rob Scott, CEO, Wesfarmers, $12,977,472
- Stuart Irving, CEO Computershare, $11,440,890