South Korean CEOs highest paid: Study

Singapore: CEOs in South Korea emerged as the highest paid in the Asia-Pacific region followed by their Hong Kong counterparts, a survey said Monday. The average base salary for CEOs in South Korea amounts to $384,123. Cash compensation, including bonuses and other payments, adds another $568,502 on an average, reported the Mercer HR Consulting. CEOs in Hong Kong receive $250,707 in average base pay and $352,520 in average annual total cash, making them the second highest paid in the region.

“Compensation has long been driven by such factors as historic pay levels, size of economy and competition for talent,” the Business Times quoted Mercer’s Steve Gross as saying. “As companies become more globally mobile, they can shift some jobs to lower-cost locations. These new considerations will have a big impact on pay levels among countries,” he added.

Chief executives in Singapore earn an average of $239,866 in annual base salary, but their total can be nearly double that amount, the survey said. Compared with Taiwan, CEOs in Singapore are paid more than double what their counterparts earn — $114,914 in average base pay and $131,834 in direct cash on average.