The pay of New Zealand's top long-serving bosses has gone up by an average of 230 per cent over a decade.
These marathon executives, all of whom were in the job for at least the past 10 years, may not be the best paid company heads, but enjoyed steady rises in remuneration between 2004 and 2014.
The bosses - Freightways' Dean Bracewell, Mainfreight's Don Braid, Sky Television's John Fellet, F&P Healthcare's Michael Daniell, Mighty River Power's Doug Heffernan and Ebos' Mark Waller - all got bigger pay packets in 2014 than in any other year since the Business Herald began tracking them a decade ago. The average pay in 2014 among the six men was $2,049,270, up from $617,040 in 2004. This is on nominal terms and has not been adjusted for inflation.
Waller is the standout performer and his inflation-adjusted remuneration went up from $709,082 to $3,475,720, an increase of 390 per cent on nominal terms. Ebos' growth, however, has been even more impressive. The medical and pharmaceutical products group brought in $5.8 billion of revenue in the year to June 2014 compared with $228 million in 2004.
This story has been changed from the original where adjustments were made to account for inflation. This maintains consistency with the rest of the coverage on our topic.
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There have been 19 successful acquisitions in that decade, the most significant being 2013's $1.1 billion purchase of Symbion, a leading Australian pharmaceutical wholesaler and distributor.
Its profit last year was $92.1 million compared with $8.4 million in 2004, up 995.97 per cent in nominal terms.
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Waller's remuneration was the fourth-highest in the Business Herald's executive pay survey, after his final year at Ebos' helm. He led the company for 27 years before stepping down last September.
Mighty River Power boss Doug Heffernan, also retired last year after 16 years in charge. His 2014 remuneration of $2.18 million included a $500,000 retention payment for staying in the job until last August.
His final pay packet was about 180 per cent more than in 2004 on nominal terms.
The firm made a $212 million profit in 2014, up from about $100 million in 2004.
Hear Herald writer Hamish Fletcher discuss the latest CEO Pay Survey with NewsTalk ZB's Rachel Smalley here: