Editorial: The size of the CEO’s salary has to match the size of their business acumen

EDITORIAL

Most New Zealanders would have read the Herald’s list of who the highest-paid CEOs are and how much they earn with glazed eyes because of some of the eye-watering amounts of pay
packets. Others may have turned green with envy.

The top CEOs’ payslips will be big talking points around bars, rest homes and smoko rooms for weeks because while most New Zealanders are struggling with the cost of living, the top echelon of New Zealand CEOs keeps getting richer.

Although their pay packets have not skyrocketed to rates of previous pre-Covid years, a 2 per cent rise on a $8m pay packet is way more than 2 per cent on the average weekly wage. Do the maths.

At the top of the mountain is John Cullity, CEO of Ebos, who pockets a cool $8.42m. That’s around $162k a week, every week of the year – eye-watering for the majority of New Zealanders. Prime Minister Christoper Luxon is on a base salary of $470k.

Cullity is the boss of Ebos, the largest and, according to its web page, most diversified Australasian marketer, wholesaler and distributor of healthcare, medical and pharmaceutical products which generates $12.2 billion, has over 5000 employees in 108 locations across Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia and impacts the lives of millions of people – and animals – across the communities it serves, every day.

Animal healthcare is money in the bank.

Behind Cullity, there are a number of more well-known CEOs, like outgoing Fletcher boss Ross Taylor (4 on the list) who earns $3.7m, ASB CEO Vittoria Shortt (6) who earns $3.56m, Mainfreight’s Don Braid (7) whose salary tips the scales at $3.5m and Air NZ boss Greg Foran (10) whose salary of $3.13m – or $60k a week – who round out the top 10 earners.

Foran took a pay cut to take over as Air NZ CEO, from the then-CEO, now PM, Christopher Luxon. As president and chief executive of retail giant Walmart’s US operations, Foran was on a salary of $19m, and took over the reins of the airline just prior to Covid grounding international travel. Talk about poor timing.

What these CEOs – whether they are among the highest paid or work for a non-profit organisation, where the pay packets are slightly above the cleaners’ – have in common, are brains and skills.

They have studied and worked hard. They are not “by-chance” appointments.

So instead of being jealous of what the top end earn, let’s celebrate and inspire our youth to follow these well-worked business footprints because one day it could be any one of them earning the top salaries, or becoming prime minister.