Chief executives of Australia’s top companies saw their pay packets swell by 16 per cent in a year, far outpacing the wages of the workers they employ.
The median ASX100 CEO earned $4,800,898 in the 2024/25 financial year, a report by compiled by Ownership Matters for the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) revealed on Wednesday.
That was 45 times higher than the average annual earnings for a full-time worker of $106,657, which grew by 3.8 per cent in the year to November, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Chris Hulls, chief executive of family tracking app Life360, topped the list on $47.7 million earned in the 12 months to June 30, 2025.
His company delivered total shareholder returns of just under 50 per cent in the year.
Mr Hulls was one of five CEOs in the top 10 who are based in the US.
ResMed’s Mick Farrell ($35.2 million) and News Corp’s Robert Thomson ($33.6 million) – both based in the US – were the second and third highest-paid chief executives, respectively.
Despite the large jump in realised pay for the heads of Australia’s top 100 listed companies, their salaries have actually stagnated over the past decade and a half.
The median base pay of an ASX100 CEO was $1.83 million, below the $1.95 million recorded in 2012.
Growth in CEOs’ take home pay has been driven by ballooning bonuses and share-based incentives, which are tied to company performance.
Mr Hulls’ base pay of $US1.08 million ($A1.55 million) was supplemented by almost $US30 million ($A42.95 million) in share options.
“The diligence of Australian investors and boards continues to mean ASX CEO pay levels have generally avoided the runaway increases we’ve seen elsewhere,” said Ed John, executive manager of stewardship at ACSI.
“It also means that where CEOs appear in the highest paid list, their companies will generally have delivered strong performance over the long term.”
But, with only five ASX100 CEOs missing out on a bonus, investors should not be complacent and allow bonuses to become a given for the leaders of Australia’s top companies, he said.
The median bonus was 70.7 per cent of the maximum in the year and has been between 60 per cent and 77 per cent of maximum for each of the past 11 years, excluding the COVID-impacted year of 2020.
The highest-paid Australian-based chief executive was Vikesh Ramsunder of Sigma Healthcare, who debuted on the list following the company’s high-profile merger with Chemist Warehouse.
Macquarie Group boss Shemara Wikramenayeka rounded out the top five on $30.4 million, up from $29.8 million in financial year 2024.
Chief executives of ASX101-200 companies have not experienced the same stagnation in fixed pay, with salaries up 5.4 per cent to $1.14 million.
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