Chinese executives are paid plenty more than their counterparts in the US, with its highest boss earning thrice as much as America's best-paid executive. In research conducted by S&P Global Market Intelligence for Nikkei Asian Review, it was revealed that the ten bosses with the highest earnings among Asia-headquartered firms took home an average of US$60 million in total remuneration annually.
The said highest-paid executive is WH Group CEO Wan Long, who reportedly got almost US$300 million in salary and stock compensation in 2017. This is in contrast with the US$104 million that Hock Tan, the CEO of US chipmaker Broadcom, received for the same period.
The stark difference sheds light on issues of governance and transparency; simply put, how certain companies can afford to pay their executives so much when others don't. In a related study, consultancy firm Pay Governance found similar results, stating the average income of the world's highest-paid CEOs averaged at US$49 million.
In Asian companies, in particular, where most are family-controlled, transparency remains a main concern as many board members tend to receive astounding sums in dividends and remuneration packages that may or may not be directly driven by company performance. In some firms, the high salaries are set regardless of how the company makes money each year.
In an interview with Nikkei, Daiwa head of stewardship Yuji Kuramoto was quoted as saying that while many Asian firms have guidelines that will help improve governance, many of these policies are not acted on at all or are superficial. Even CEO's often are included during deliberations on salary packages, when they shouldn't be. Case in point with WH's Wan and Broadcom's Tan, while Wan is making three times more, their financial statements reportedly show that WH reflects weaker growth.
Second to Wan on the list in Yixing Group's Zhang Xuan with US$113.2 million, followed by China Evergrande Group president and CEO Xia Haijun with US$45.8 million, and CK Hutchison executive director Canning Fok Kin-ning with $29.9 million. Rounding up the top five is Melco International Development CEO Lawrence Ho Yau-lung with US$25.5 million.
