KEY POINTS:
"No", says supermarket boss Tony Carter.
"I'm not going to tell you how much I get paid, and no, I don't have a private jet."
In fact, the chief executive of New Zealand's seventh-largest business, Foodstuffs Auckland, gets somewhere in the vicinity of $1.3 million a year.
Hardly
likely then that Carter has the same dilemma as others about what he can - or can't - afford to spend his discretionary income on.
"Obviously a lot goes into investments, some is given away to charity ... but there's no tropical island."
A finalist in the Deloitte/Management magazine executive of the year contest, Carter is hesitant when asked whether CEOs are paid too much.
"Salaries in New Zealand tend to be lower than what's available overseas but, like a lot of positions in business, they are driven by the international market.
"I'm not saying we are not paid well or we should be paid more.
"But I think even those people who earn what are perceived to be very high salaries in New Zealand could earn more overseas if they wanted to."
He said some under-performing bosses continued to get hefty annual pay rises but argued that much criticism focused on what a person earned rather than how they performed.
"That does hurt. Sure, you are fair game if you do a bad job, but simply just being disrespected for what you earn is unfortunate.
"It sends the wrong signal to New Zealanders - we should be trying to be successful whatever we do."
SUIT-ABILITY
A survey of more than 500 chief executives reveals the typical boss is male, 52, has four weeks' annual leave and has been in the job for fewer than five years. He earns an average salary of $216,000 plus $111,000 in extras. He gets at least one of the following benefits: company vehicle or car allowance, telephone costs, club fees, medical insurance, superannuation. And he will have received a 5.9 per cent pay rise in the past year.
The Sheffield Chief Executive Officer Survey also says bosses in Auckland have higher salary packages than those in other parts of the country, with a median value of $297,670. Last year, 56 per cent of CEOs received performance-based pay.
It was worth about 14 per cent of their package, compared to 39 per cent overseas. Only 9 per cent of New Zealand CEOs are female.