The proportion of CEOs and MDs at Nifty 50 companies who earned more than ₹50 crore in the financial year 2023-24 has doubled since 2018-19, according to an Economic Times report which cited an exclusively shared Deloitte study.
The report added that one in five CEOs and MDs earned more than ₹50 crore in the the last fiscal year, compared with one in 10, five years ago.
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Among the 10 promoter-incumbents, 30% earned over ₹50 crore in 2023-24, compared to 27% in 2018-19.
The median compensation for Nifty 50 company CEOs grew from ₹13.1 crore in 2018-19 to ₹18.9 crore in 2022-23 and ₹22.6 crore in 2023-24.
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Non-promoter median pay increased 19.6% from ₹18.9 crore to ₹22.6 crore, while promoter CEO pay increased by 6.9% from ₹23.3 crore to ₹24.9 crore, between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Which sectors had the highest compensation increase?
CEOs in IT services and heavy manufacturing companies had the highest pay due to size, scale of operations, and the typical overseas location of the CEO, in the case of IT services.
The median Nifty 50 CEO pay for IT services companies was ₹49.8 crore in 2023-24, while it was ₹42 crore at heavy manufacturing companies.
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Meanwhile, Nifty Auto company CEOs got an annual median pay of ₹24.9 crore, consumer company CEOs got ₹22.6 crore, pharmaceutical CEOs got ₹18.6 crore, and financial services CEOs got ₹17 crore.
The study analysed 41 Nifty 50 companies, excluding public sector undertakings (PSUs) and three companies with no active incumbent, or where the MD voluntarily relinquished compensation, or was on deputation from the holding company.