It's fairly safe to say that almost everyone knows that running a public company in Australia is one of the most lucrative jobs out there. But with 200 companies in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), obviously there are going to be some disparities between the wealth of the various ASX 200 CEOs.
The Australian Financial Review (AFR) has recently done some work in this area. In a report today, the AFR looked at the wealthiest ASX 200 CEOs, based on the wealth that their own companies have given them in their individual shareholdings. It makes for some interesting reading:
| ASX CEO | ASX 200 Company | CEO Wealth from Company Shares |
|---|---|---|
| Richard White | WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) | $4.23 billion |
| Kerry Stokes | Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) | $4.22 billion |
| Rupert Murdoch | News Corporation (ASX: NWS) | $2.53 billion |
| Nicholas Molnar | Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) | $2.19 billion |
| Anthony Eisen | Afterpay | $2.15 billion |
| Gerry Harvey | Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) | $2.3 billion |
| Michael Heine | Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) | $2.03 billion |
| Sam Hupert | Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME) | $1.65 billion |
| Anthony Hall | Pro Medicus | $1.65 billion |
| Hamish Douglass | Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) | $1.2 billion |
Which ASX 200 CEO is the richest of them all?
So WiseTech CEO Richard White is the winner here, with $4.23 billion worth of WiseTech shares. We've already checked out Mr White's WiseTech wealth today, so make sure to read more about it here.
Going down the list, and we see Seven's Kerry Stokes. As the AFR noted, Stokes' seems to be profiting from Seven's recent saga with ASX 200 construction company Boral Limited (ASX: BLD), which the Seven Group is in the process of potentially acquiring. Boral shares are up close to 50% in 2021 so far, while Seven has seen its share price rocket almost 14% since early July.
Rupert Murdoch, chair of News Corporation, has been a big beneficiary of the pandemic. Newscorp was quick to close a number of regional newspapers last year with the onset of the pandemic. But its holdings in 'COVID winners' like REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA) have seen the news mogul bolster his ASX 200 assets in 2021 so far.
Afterpay founders Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen have reaped huge rewards as they watched their company go from close to $8 a share in the nadir of last year's share market crash to a high of over $160 a share by February 2021.
Although Afterpay has cooled since then the company is still trading at well over $100 a share, cementing these billionaires' stakes in Afterpay at more than $2 billion apiece. Not bad for a company that went from ASX 200 to ASX 20 quicker than winking.
Gerry Harvey and Michael Heine head another pair of pandemic winners in famous retailer Harvey Norman and wealth management platform Netwealth. Harvey Norman is up almost 55% over the past year, while Netwealth has managed a 36% boost. As such, these founders' shares equate to a fortune in their own right.
Pro Medicus up, Magellan flat
ASX 200 medical company Pro Medicus has also made a motza for its CEO Sam Hupert and executive director Anthony Hall. Pro Medicus is up almost 65% year to date, and 137.5% over the past 12 months. No doubt a very pleasing event for Messrs Hall and Hupert to watch unfold.
And finally, we have Magellan co-founder Hamish Douglass. Unlike most of the other people on this list, Mr Douglass has seen the fortunes of his company get stuck in the mud somewhat. At the current share price (at the time of writing) of around $54 a share, Magellan has yet to reclaim the high ground of ~$74 a share that we saw back in early 2020.
Subdued performances of many of Magellan's funds have seen performance fees dry up, which has impacted the value of Mr Douglass's large swathe of Magellan shares. Still, $1.2 billion is nothing to complain about, one would think.
