Million-dollar-salary CEO club witnesses 37 per cent rise in FY22 despite headwinds

The million-dollar salary club consisting CEO/CXOs with salary over Rs 7.8 crore witnessed a 37 per cent increase in FY22 amid rising inflation, geopolitical tensions and weakening rupee.

According to a TOI report, 46 new members entered the elite club in FY22. The number went up to 171 which had contracted by 17 per cent to 125 in FY21.

The total compensation of C-suite executives has surged by 55 per cent to Rs 3,957 crore, with the average salary at about Rs 23 crore.


“The top 10 is led by Sajjan Jindal, whose total compensation from JSW Steel and JSW Energy — the two group companies where he is CMD — is Rs 146 crore, up 72 per cent from Rs 85 crore in FY21. Jindal took home a greater chunk from his flagship company JSW Steel, where the total compensation is about Rs 135 crore in FY22. This includes a profit-linked commission of about Rs 122 crore,” reported TOI.

Other members who were among the top 10 included Wipro’s Thierry Delaporte, Infosys’s Salil Parekh, Hero MotoCorp’s Pawan Munjal, L&T’s S N Subrahmanyan and Delhivery’s Sandeep Kumar Barasia.

The rise in number of members of the million-dollar club can be attributed to the stock-related compensation. The stock-related compensation now forms a substantial part of the overall package.

Barasia, the MD & chief business officer of Delhivery, which is the first listed startup to make an entry into the club, earned a compensation of about Rs 93 crore, which includes perquisite value on the exercise of stock options of nearly Rs 64 crore.

“Senior executive compensation is largely ‘recession-proof’. Over the years, Indian businesses have scaled and many of them now have a global footprint and are being run by seasoned global executives. We can say that many Indian companies are able to compete well in the global market for talent,” reported TOI citing EMA Partners India MD K Sudarshan.

The depreciation in rupee, which was close to 5 per cent, over the last year did not overpower the salary figures of these members.

The top 10 is equally represented by professional and promoter CEOs. Overall, professional CEOs, at 101, have clearly outpaced promoter CEOs, at 70 this year. The study found that the compensation of C-suite executives who figure in the club is up nearly 91 per cent, while that of promoter CEOs has increased 26 per cent.

“Other than Kavery Kalanithi of Sun TV Network, gender diversity in the top 10, however, remains skewed towards male CEOs. In the overall club too, women’s representation among CXOs is just 6 per cent,” said the report.