Bosses' bonuses keep on coming

The bonuses of many executives do not always reflect company performance. The list of big earners in this year's Rich List has several cases of executives receiving massive bonuses while their companies' profits were plummeting.

Add their basic salaries, gains on shares and other benefits, and company executives are still earning amounts that justify criticism from unions and even Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus.

According to the list, the biggest earner in 2009 was former Mvelaphanda Resources CEO Pine Pienaar.

Pienaar, whose resignation was announced at the same time as the group's unbundling in June last year, pocketed R63.07-million. This included a termination benefit of R34.45-million and a performance bonus of R22.38-million.

Based on 210 working days a year, he was earning R37500 an hour - more than most South Africans earn in a year.

Mvela's headline earnings per share rose by a hefty 1688% in the 2009 financial year due to a change in accounting practices for its bigger stake in Northam Platinum and the group's Gold Fields investment.

Grindrod executive director Tim McClure, seventh on the earnings list, received a R31.97-million performance bonus - the highest on the list of earners - while Grindrod's headline earnings per share fell 63%.

BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers, who is third among the big earners, got a bonus of R12.99-million while his company's headline earnings per share fell 62%. Julian Roberts, CEO of Old Mutual, who is in 10th position, got a R13.61-million bonus in the year his group's headline earnings per share fell 77%.

However, compared with Richemont's Norbert Platt's basic salary, these bonuses seem small.

Platt, who is number two on the list of big earners for the second year running, received a salary of R57.29-million, and when his total benefits are added, his total remuneration last year was R58.06-million.

Platt is not the only one of Richemont's executives among the highest earners.

The luxury goods group's chairman, Johann Rupert, received total remuneration of R40.99-million, including benefits of R17.28-million, placing him eighth among the big earners. Rupert does not take the money, though. Richemont's annual report states that Rupert's salary and other short-term benefits are donated to charity.

The total remuneration of Richemont's executive financial director, Richard Lepeu, was R31.34-million, which places him in 11th position.

Leaving an executive directorship does not necessarily mean the end of big earnings.

Carl Grim, who retired as CEO of Aveng in March 2008, received R43.98-million from share options in 2009, placing him fifth on the big earners list.

The biggest climber among the top 10 earners was Jabu Mabuza, who stepped down as executive director of Hosken Consolidated Investments in June last year. Thanks to R34.99-million - from gains on share options - Mabuza's total remuneration was R41.09-million, which placed him in sixth spot compared with 31st position on last year's list of big earners.

Several of the top 10 earners from last year's list did not have such a lucrative year this time around.

Apart from last year's biggest earner, former BHP Billiton CEO Chip Goodyear, who did not even make the top 500, the biggest "losers" were brothers Brett and Mark Levy, joint CEOs of Blue Label Telecoms.

Thanks to a R40-million pre-listing contractual bonus entitlement each brother received in 2008, they were fourth and seventh on last year's list.

This year they are the in 275th and 276th positions.

Brian Bruce, CEO of construction company Murray & Roberts, slipped from eight position to 100th.