Professional CEOs crowd million-dollar-salary club
With uncertainty becoming the new normal in global business, India Inc is increasingly leaning on professional CEOs to steer companies and handing them million dollar pay cheques as they power growth in the era of the unknown. Among CEOs taking home a million dollars (over Rs 8 crore) or more across BSE 200 companies, the count of professional leaders has surged nearly 71% to 145 in FY25 from 85 five years ago (see graphic). The promoter CEO count has largely remained flat in the same period, going up to 65 from 60, data shared by global executive search firm Stanton Chase with TOI showed.
The IT/ITes space leads the million-dollar CEO cohort — the sector recorded the biggest jump in compensation in the last five years followed by manufacturing at 34%. Former Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte tops the list with Rs 168-crore compensation in FY25, followed by Persistent Systems CEO Sandeep Kalra with Rs 148-crore pay. Among promoter CEOs, Pawan Munjal, CMD at Hero MotoCorp leads with Rs 109-crore compensation, the study showed.
“India is getting integrated with the global economy very well. This was not the case 10 years back. Businesses are becoming far more complex and multi-functional which is why there’s a rise in professional CEOs,” said Anshuman Das, CEO and founder at Longhouse. Besides, private equity investors are joining the cap table of large businesses, driving some changes in the way companies operate and overhauling governance structures, said Das.
The million dollar pay cheques, however, are not coming easy. Instead of increasing fixed salaries, boards have shifted to performance-linked pay, increasing the burden of accountability. Fixed compensation declined to about 31% in FY25 from 35% in FY21.
The million dollar pay cheques, however, are not coming easy. Instead of increasing fixed salaries, boards have shifted to performance-linked pay, increasing the burden of accountability. Fixed compensation declined to about 31% in FY25 from 35% in FY21.
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