A new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has revealed the obvious: Canadian CEOs make more than the average worker. Based on 2010 numbers, the highest paid 100 CEOs on Canada’s TSX pulled in an average $8.38 million, up 27% from 2009 ($6.6 million). The number is huge when compared to the $44,366/year salary the average Canadian worker earns. Topping out at number one was Frank Stronach, Magna CEO, at $61,811,287.
As for our Wireless players, here are the ones that made the top 100:
– #25 Darren Entwistle, TELUS CEO:
Base salary was $1,225,000, then adding in pension, shares, bonus, etc… took him to $9,940,445
– #38 Nadir Mohamed, Rogers Communications CEO:
Base salary was $1,200,000, then adding in pension, shares, bonus, etc… took him to $8,580,492
– #78 & #79 Mike Lazaridis & Jim Balsillie, RIM co-CEO:
Base salary was $1,200,000, then adding in pension, shares, bonus, etc… took them to $5,090,279
– #95 George Cope, BCE CEO:
Base salary was $1,250,000, then adding in pension, shares, bonus, etc… took them to $4,267,424
The combined 2010 salaries for the the Big 3 CEOs is $22,788,361. Would be cool to see the jump in 2011 salaries.
Rogers, Bell and TELUS dominate the wireless scene in Canada. At the end of Q3 2011 they all increased their subscriber base. Rogers had a total of 9,288,000 wireless subscribers, Bell had 7,369,596 subs, and TELUS had 7.2 million.
There might also be some flaw in the report though. Specifically when it comes to TELUS’ CEO Darren Entwistle. Late 2009 Entwistle stated that “I’ve recently informed the Telus board of directors that I’ll be taking the entirety of my 2010 annual cash salary compensation net of taxes in Telus shares”. Now, this doesn’t undermine the amount of money he raked in because at the beginning of 2010 the TELUS stock was just above $34.25, ending the year at $45.50.
The report’s author, Economist Hugh Mackenzie, stated that “The average of Canada’s CEO Elite 100 make 189 times more than Canadians earning the average wage… If you think that’s normal, it’s not. In 1998, the highest paid 100 Canadian CEOs earned 105 times more than the average wage, itself likely more than double the figure for a decade earlier…The gap between Canada’s CEO Elite 100 and the rest of us is growing at a fast and steady pace, with no signs of letting up.”
Read the full report here (PDF)
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
