Oliver Blume is the first DAX CEO to ever earn more than ten million euros a year. Compared to Apple CEO Tim Cook, however, he is almost a “low earner”.
Oliver Blume has broken through a sound barrier: last year, the CEO of Volkswagen and the VW subsidiary Porsche AG earned 10.3 million euros. This makes him the first DAX CEO whose salary exceeds the ten million euro mark. This is the result of the executive compensation study presented today by the German Association for the Protection of Securities Holders (DSW).
Heads of Adidas and Deutsche Bank behind Blume
DSW CEO Marc Tüngler critically notes that the ten million euro mark is actually an “established ceiling” in the social debate about the remuneration systems of DAX companies. But he also admits that Blume, with his dual mandate at VW and Porsche, is certainly a “special case”.
In second place in the ranking is Bjorn Gulden (Adidas) with 9.2 million euros, and in third place is Christian Sewing (Deutsche Bank) with 9.0 million euros. In fourth and fifth place are Christian Klein (SAP) with 8.8 million and Roland Busch (Siemens) with 8.5 million euros.
Top managers in France and Switzerland earn more
But how do the top managers of German listed companies compare internationally? If you look beyond Germany to Europe, you can see that the DAX bosses are by no means at the top in terms of their remuneration.
With an average total compensation of 5.7 million euros, they even rank significantly below the salary level in the French CAC40 (6.9 million euros) or the Swiss SMI (7.6 million euros) – this is pointed out by economist and study author Gunther Friedl from the Chair of Controlling at the Technical University of Munich.
Dassault boss earns four times more than Blume
Europe's top earner is Bernard Charlès: The 67-year-old CEO of the CAC40-listed software developer Dassault Systèmes received 46.7 million euros last year. DAX top earner Blume comes in just twelfth place in the European comparison with his 10.3 million euros.
Everything is relative – this motto is especially true when you compare the DAX CEO salaries of an average of 5.7 million euros with those in the USA. According to the study, CEOs on the other side of the Atlantic earned an average of 24.2 million euros.
Apple's Tim Cook is at the top internationally
Tim Cook received the highest total compensation across all indices examined: the Apple boss pocketed the equivalent of 58.4 million euros. And this despite the fact that his compensation was down 41.3 percent compared to 2022, as Christiane Hölzl, DSW managing director and compensation expert, emphasizes.
In second place, with a clear gap, is Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, with total compensation of 44.8 million euros, while the Chairman and CEO of SAP competitor Salesforce, Marc Benioff, pocketed 36.6 million euros. “In 2023, the CEOs of DAX companies again received compensation that was below all other indices examined in an international comparison,” concludes Hölzl.
2023 was a good year for the DAX
Meanwhile, economist Friedl emphasizes how well the DAX companies fared last year given the economic “general economic climate.” Gross domestic product fell by 0.3 percent in 2023, and the inflation rate was 5.9 percent. Monetary policy also put obstacles in the way of the DAX companies, with the European Central Bank (ECB) raising the key interest rate in several steps to 4.5 percent in September. Higher interest rates make investments in stocks less attractive.
“While these indicators suggest that the past year was mixed, investors on the capital markets were more optimistic about the future,” said Friedl. The DAX has achieved positive development. In fact, the German leading index was able to increase by 20.3 percent in 2023 – despite falling sales and profits of the companies it contains.
