Chief Executive Officer (CEO) salaries are a hot topic and closely followed by both investors and analysts. An extremely generous pay package can be routine for an industry, or a red flag for a low-performing company, suggesting corporate governance norms in the business are weak. 

In this edition of chart of the week, we look at India’s 10 highest-paid CEOs and their remuneration as a percentage of the company’s net profit, according to Trendlyne’s new CEO Salary dashboard. 

This interactive dashboard on Trendlyne looks at the total remuneration of senior employees (including CEOs and directors) in the industry. The remuneration is inclusive of benefits like ESOPs.

 The IT sector is known for highly paid CEOs and it is reflected in the chart as well. Six of the 10 highest-paid CEOs are from the IT sector. Yashish Dahiya, Chairman, Executive Director and CEO of loss-making PB Fintech (PolicyBazaar), tops the list with a remuneration of Rs 613.8 crore. It constituted 39.6% of the company’s annual revenue in FY22 (keep in mind ESOPs are a big part of remuneration for listed startups, and the value of shares is tied to company performance). The company posted losses during the same period. As per the company’s FY22 annual report, in the scenario of the company incurring losses, Yashish Dahiya is subject to receive ESOP 2020 and 2021 as minimum remuneration. 

Vinay Vinod Sanghi, Chief Managing Director and CEO of CarTrade Tech, received a remuneration of Rs 176.6 crore, which comes to almost half of the company’s annual revenue in FY22.

Thierry Delaporte, Managing Director and CEO of Wipro, got Rs 79.8 crore after an increment of 24% in 2022. Salil S Parekh, Managing Director and CEO of Infosys, got a remuneration of Rs 71 crore after four consecutive increments of 327.9%, 1.2%, 188.3% and 43% in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively. Infosys used to be known in the industry for its lower pay scale for management, with the founders arguing that the CEO salary relative to the median employee shouldn’t be too high. That has clearly changed - Parekh is one of the highest paid CEOs in India.

CP Gurnani, Managing Director and CEO of Tech Mahindra, received Rs 62.7 crore, which constituted 1.1% of the company’s net profit in FY22. He received two increments of 304.5% in 2021 and 335.4% in 2022. Sandeep Kalra, Executive Director and CEO of Persistent Systems, earned Rs 46.9 crore, which was 6.8% of the company’s net profit. 

Two CEOs from the 2-3 wheeler industry also feature in the top 10 list. Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp, earned a remuneration of Rs 84.4 crore, constituting 3.6% of the company’s profit. Managing Director and CEO of Bajaj Auto, Rajiv Bajaj, received Rs 45.6 crore constituting 0.74% of the company's profit.

Another notable name in the list is Punit Goenka, Managing Director and CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. He received a remuneration of Rs 41.1 crore, making up 4.3% of the company’s net profit. After taking a pay cut during the Covid pandemic in 2020, he received two increments of 46% in 2021 and 212.2% in 2022.

You can find more details on the remuneration of CEOs and directors on Tredlyne’s newly launched Salary Dashboard.