Revision as of 20:58, 8 July 2015

Highest paid professionals and promoters

The Times of India

Dec 26 2014

Top paid professionals and promoters in India

India Inc has 96 executives in the million-dollar pay club, a study of top salaries for 2013-14 commissioned by TOI has revealed. The number of professional CEOs in the club has increased from 34 during 2012-13 to 39, finds the study by global executive search firm EMA Partners. In case of promoter CEOs, the number went up marginally from 56 to 57. The study took into account executive compensation in excess of Rs 6 crore per annum for the top 200 listed companies and excluded stock options. Here are the highlights...

Employer-employee salary ratio

The Times of India, Jul 06 2015

Employers' salary as a multiple of median pay; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, Jul 06 2015

Mukesh's pay 205-times RIL's median

Ratio Stands At 439 For ITC's Deveshwar, 89 For Wipro's Premji

Billionaire industrialist and India's richest man Mukesh Ambani has not taken a pay hike for seven years, but his salary is over 205-times that of the median employee remuneration at Reliance Industries (RIL). However, this ratio stands much higher at 439 times in case of ITC executive chairman Y C Deveshwar.

The same ratio stands much lower at 89-times in case of IT major Wipro's chairman and managing director Azim Premji, and just at 19-times for mortgage giant HDFC's chair a man Deepak Parekh for the latest fiscal 2014-15.

However, HDFC Bank's t MD Aditya Puri got a remuner p ation that was 117-times the t median employee pay at the bank, while for ICICI Bank 2 CEO Chanda Kochhar, it was 97 c times and at over 74 times for Axis Bank's managing director and CEO Shikha Sharma.

For IT giant Infosys' CEO Vishal Sikka, his pay was 116 times of the median employee pay at the company . The same ratio for HUL's CEO Sanjiv Mehta was 93 times, but much higher at 293 times for Vedanta Limited's chairman Navin Agarwal.

Listed companies have be gun disclosing these ratios, as also other comparisons such as salary hikes for the top management personnel and an average staff, for the first time pursuant to the new Companies Act and Sebi's latest Corporate Governance Code coming into force.

While a majority of the companies are still in the proc ess of disclosing these details, the disclosures made so far by the top companies show a wide variance in these ratios, while there is also a huge difference between the pay hike figures for the top management per sonnel and an average staff member in many cases.

However, there are a few cases where the increase in the median employee remunera tion is almost equal or even higher than the same for the CEOs and other key manage ment personnel.

In case of RIL, chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani has kept his salary capped at Rs 15 crore for seven years now, while the median remuneration of em ployees increased by 3.7% to Rs 7.29 lakh during 2014-15. The to tal remuneration of key mana gerial personnel, in fact, dipped by 1.9% to Rs 73.28 crore.

Extensions after age 70

The Times of India

Billionaire club, 70+ age; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India

Jul 08 2015

Reeba Zachariah & Boby Kurian

Super rich don't want to retire

Wipro's Premji, Lupin's Gupta Among 234 Seeking Extension As New Cos Act Caps Age Of Those In Executive Role At 70

About half a dozen billionaires are among the 234 business leaders who are seeking extension of the retirement age, which has been fixed at 70 years under the revamped Companies Act for those serving in a listed company in an executive role. Wipro boss Azim Premji, who turns 70 on July 24, is seeking a two-year extension as executive chairman and managing director at the company's annual general meeting slated for July 22. With a net worth estimated at over $16 billion, Premji, India's third richest man, emerges the most influential India Inc name seeking continuation of employment under a more stringent Act.

Pharma major Lupin's Desh Bandhu Gupta, with a net worth of $6.4 billion, is another billionaire seeking extension as executive chairman for five years through a special resolution at the company's July 23 AGM. “The new Act requires a proper justification and a special resolution with 75% voting in favour to continue with executive powers beyond 70. An age limit was deemed fit since significant public capital is parked with the country's largely promoter-driven companies,“ said Sai Venkateshwaran, partner and head of accounting advisory services at KPMG. This applies to those with executive functions and not independent directors.

Premji's desire to not hang up his boots is putting the spotlight on the so-called `Club of 70s', which includes the likes of Adi Godrej, KP Singh (of DLF), who have all got extensions under the previous Act to continue to lead their companies.

Wockhardt's Habil Khoraki wala, with a promoter stake worth $2 billion, also sought a similar continuation earlier this year. Adi Godrej continues to steer his family's interest, estimated at $4.8 billion, in Godrej Consumer Products as does K P Singh with a $2.5-billion stake in DLF . Kirpal Singh, 89, who heads Dolphin Offshore Enterprises as chairman, is the oldest executive head currently . Other veterans include P R S Oberoi (86) of EIH and C Prathap Reddy (83) of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises.

Most of them control a signif icant block of shares, giving them enough comfort to seek extensions even under the stringent, new rules. Premji and DLF's Singh control around 74% shares each in their companies, while Godrej has 63% and Lupin's Gupta 46%. L&T Group executive chairman A M Naik, probably the mostinfluential professional executive head past his retirement age, sought continuation under the old rules and has two more years at the helm unless he seeks another extension.

Wipro's special resolution recalls how Premji, who joined the business in the 1960s, turned a $2-million business into a $7.5-billion entity and India's third largest software exporter.While Premji's extension is set to sail through in the upcoming shareholder meeting, there have been minority investor rebellions against older executive heads in some of the lesserknown listed companies.

Some minority shareholders of Ultramarine & Pigments have written to the company that its executive chairman R Sampath, who is past 70, should step down. But the company said it has robust legal advice stating no requirement for a fresh ratification until Sampath's current tenure under the old Act ends.