Only one woman cracked the list of the 20 highest-paid CEOs on the Australian Stock Exchange, while Life360 Executive Chairman Chris Hull was paid an eye-watering $48 million — almost 500 times the average wage.
Hull, an American entrepreneur, was the highest-paid CEO on the list, with US-based chief executives making up five of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs of Australian listed companies for the first time.
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) released its latest annual report examining CEO pay levels at companies listed on the ASX200 for the 2025 financial year.
Macquarie Group CEO Shemara Wikramanayake was the only woman on the top 20 list, coming in as the fifth-highest-paid CEO, collecting $30.4 million in realised pay.
In FY25, the average ASX100 CEO earned about 55 times more than the average wage earner.
The highest-paid Australian-based CEO in the ASX200 was Vikesh Ramsunder, CEO of Sigma Healthcare. It was the first time his name has appeared in the top 20 and comes after the company merged with Chemist Warehouse.
For the third year, seven CEOs of Australian companies were among the top 30 highest paid executives.
The research found that an ASX100 CEO is more likely to lose their job than their bonuses. The report shows 10 ASX100 CEOs left their roles (including Wisetech founder Richard White, who later returned as executive chair), while just five CEOs eligible for a bonus missed out. The median bonus outcome for an ASX100 CEO was 70.7 per cent of maximum in FY25.
Meanwhile, termination payments for ASX100 CEOs cost $18.6m in FY25. The increase in average payments from $1.4m to $2.2m was largely due to FY25’s single large payment of $5.88m to former Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm.
ACSI’s report looks at data on “realised pay”, calculated as fixed pay and cash bonuses, plus the value of any equity or one-off cash incentives that vested during the reporting year.
Chief Executive Officer of ACSI, Louise Davidson AM, wrote in the report’s foreword that despite a four per cent rise this year to a median $1.83m, CEOs are still receiving less than their colleagues in the record year of 2012, who took home a median of $1.95m.
The research points to greater scrutiny from Australian investors and boards, which has led to ASX100 CEO fixed and cash pay levels continuing to plateau.
“Investors cannot become complacent, with clear evidence that CEO bonuses continue to be a ‘given’ in Australia’s largest companies. This year investors will need to remain vigilant to ensure that we do not see the inflation in CEO salaries or a pay ‘break-out’ that we see in markets like the US,” Ed John, Executive Manager, Stewardship at ACSI said.