The top brass at luxury goods maker Richemont, controlled by SA’s richest person Johann Rupert, were collectively paid about Sf39.7m (R820m) in the 2024 financial year after the group reported robust results and the share price surged in the period.
The Sf39.7m is the combined figure paid to both non-executive and executive directors.
Rupert, who chairs the board, was paid a rand equivalent of R69m for his efforts while Jérôme Lambert, who until recently was the group’s de facto CEO, was rewarded with Sf7.1m (R146m) pay cheque.
The group's CFO, Burkhart Grund, was paid Sf9.5m (R195m).
In May, Richemont re-established the group CEO role, appointing long-time executive Nicolas Bos as its new boss. Lambert, who has over the past five years been the group’s de facto CEO, will become COO.
The Switzerland-based group reported in May that annual group sales rose 3% to a record high of €20.6bn in the year ended March.
Former Absa boss Maria Ramos got a compensation of Sf325,000 (R6.9m). Ramos who recently retired as chair of AngloGold Ashanti, is expected to step down from the Richemont board in March 2025, ending a nearly 20-year association with the group.
Richemont, founded in 1988, owns some of the world’s leading luxury brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, IWC, Jaeger LeCoultre, Montblanc and Panerai.
Operating profit in the year to the end of March increased 13% to €4.8bn, while overall profit came in at €2.3bn. The company has seen its share price rise more than 20% in 2024, raising its market cap to R1.664-trillion.
The luxury goods company has been expanding its horizons rapidly: in January, it completed a transaction in which it bought 70% of Gianvito Rossi, an Italian high-end shoe maison. Earlier in June, it announced it had acquired Italian jewellery maker Vhernier.
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