WA’s best-paid bosses: How much the top executives of our ASX-listed companies made this year

More of WA’s millionaire bosses are pocketing lucrative bonuses even though shareholder pressure has reined in executive pay packets. The West Australian’s annual audit of the top 100 WA companies listed on the ASX shows 85 per cent of the 102 executives who earned $1 million over the past year took home a cash bonus, up from 82 per cent a year ago. All up, the 89 men and 13 women shared $37.25m, or an average $365,247, in cash rewards, before being loaded up with potentially even more valuable longer-term stock bonuses that are part of a modern executive’s pay packet. The data does not contain all locally based executives, such as Rio Tinto’s London-bound Simon Trott ($3.6 million) or Westrac’s Jarvas Croome ($7.3 million), because they work for companies with headquarters outside WA. The top-50 best-paid bosses fared considerably better, pocketing an average cash bonus of nearly $488,639. Eight took home a cash bonus of $1m or more, with Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill’s $US1.06m ($1.62m) leading the way, ahead of Leo Lithium’s boss Simon Hay, who collected $1.49m after finalising his company’s exit from the Goulamina mine in Mali. SRG Global chief David Macgeorge pocketed $1.43m after another record year by the fast-growing engineering contractor while PLS’ Dale Henderson collected $1.41m, despite another tough year for lithium producers. The million-dollar bonus beneficiaries were rounded out by South32’s Graham Kerr ($1.2m), mining contractor Macmahon’s Michael Finnegan ($1.14m), equipment rental group Emeco’s Ian Testrow ($1.08m) and new salt producer BCI Minerals’ David Boshoff ($1.1m). The best-paid list is calculated on statutory, or reported, remuneration paid to WA-based executives at the 100 locally-headquartered companies as disclosed in their latest annual reports. The data does not capture BHP and Rio Tinto, because they headquartered outside of WA, or private companies such as Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting. Statutory pay includes the accounting value of performance-based stock rewards at the time of grant. But there is no guarantee that the shares, rights or options will provide any benefit to the executives. Realised pay, therefore, remains a better measure of take-home remuneration because it captures the market of the stock grants that actually vest with the bosses. But most companies still only disclose statutory pay. The 102 millionaire WA executives collectively earned $217.7m in salary, bonuses, stock grants and other benefits in their latest financial year. The stock rewards came to nearly $90m. The top-50 best paid averaged $2.91m, down from $3.2m the previous year as some bosses earned less and others dropped off the list through retirement, job changes or takeovers. However, the reduced average pay still equates to nearly 30 times the take-home pay of the average working Australian. The drop also reflects the increased pressure on executive pay by proxy advisers and shareholders, with the added corporate and community pressure, together with the two-strikes rule, forcing boards to tighten up remuneration practices and publicly justify pay rises. Ms O’Neill remained top of the pay tree in WA, earning $8.39m for Woodside’s 2024 calendar year, up from $7.37m previously. That’s still well short of other big pay packets elsewhere in the ASX200, notably the $29.27m pocketed by Macquarie Group’s Shemara Wikramanayake’s, the $14.17m paid to Goodman Group boss Greg Goodman and the $US8.5m ($13m) earned by BHP boss Mike Henry. Rob Scott, chief executive of Wesfarmers — which recently became the first WA company to crack the $100 billion value barrier — came in at No.2 in WA, pocketing $7.34m for the 12 months to June 30, even without a cash bonus. Wesfarmers and other major ASX200 companies now heavily weight their executive rewards into at-risk stock incentives that vest over three to five years, arguing that better focuses management on ensuring sustainable and better long-term performance. The top five was rounded out by South32’s Mr Kerr ($6.55m, down from $7.1m the previous year), Northern Star’s Stuart Tonkin ($5.8m, down from $7.31m) and PLS’ Mr Henderson ($5.09m, up from $4.49m). Twenty bosses earned more than $1m in fixed salary alone. Mineral Resources chief executive Chris Ellison, who has endured a torrid 12 months off the back of the company’s corporate governance scandals, waived his right to a bonus for the 2025 financial year, with the group’s remuneration committee describing the decision as “an appropriate response to the challenges of the past year”. His remuneration of $1.3m for the year to June 30 included a $372,747 reversal on his short term stock rewards. On a take-home basis, however, he is credited with annual pay of $6.65m, still half of the previous year’s $13.3m.