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Who is Australia’s highest-paid CEO?

IDP Education CEO Andrew Barkla. (Source: Getty)
IDP Education CEO Andrew Barkla. (Source: Getty)

It’s not Qantas boss Alan Joyce, nor is it Domino’s chief Don Meij.

Australia’s highest-paid CEO is an individual who isn’t a household name – and neither is his business.

Andrew Barkla, the boss of IDP Education, took home more pay than any other chief executive in Australia last year, raking in a stunning salary of $37,761,322.

To put that into context, Australia’s average salary is just below $85,000 a year.

And if you divide Barkla’s salary into 365 days of the year, he takes home an incredible $103,455.67 per day – that’s $4,310 an hour, or $71.83 a minute.

IDP Education is a global education organisation with over 100 offices in 31 countries that offers student placements in Australia and countries like New Zealand, USA, UK, Ireland and Canada.

Barkla has had extensive experience leading organisations of various industries, including global technology and software firms across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and North America.

He’s been at the helm of IDP Education since 2015, but before joining the education organisation he held senior roles at Unisys.

According to a new report that assesses the CEO pay of Australia’s largest listed companies, Barkla’s pay packet is 158 per cent higher than what Qantas’ Joyce took home last year ($23.88 million). In fact, Joyce slipped from first to eighth place.

In March this year, Joyce said he was refusing his salary until July as airlines struggled from the economic hit of the coronavirus pandemic.

The CEO taking home the next-biggest paypacket is CSL boss Paul Perreault, who made $30.5 million last year.

The pay packet drops significantly from there; in third place is Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals chief Philippe Wolgen, who earnt $20.62 million in 2019.

Here are Australia’s 20 highest-paid CEOs:

(Source: ACSI)
(Source: ACSI)

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Join us for Episode 2 on Tuesday 8 September.
Join us for Episode 2 on Tuesday 8 September.