The South African banking CEO who earned R94,000 a day for 15 years

Brown retired in May 2024 after serving as Nedbank’s CEO since 2010, succeeded by former Absa Finance Director, Jason Quinn, in June.

Nedbank credited Brown with turning the group into a digital banking powerhouse, creating significant shareholder value.

Brown captained the ship during a period of intense upheaval, with the South African economy severely hurt by state capture, poor public governance, load shedding, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

His strong leadership was honoured with the Sunday Times Business Leader of the Year award in 2020.

Outside of his Nedbank activities, Brown served as the Deputy Chairman of Business Leadership SA and was the former Chairman of the Banking Association of South Africa.

“After 6 years as CFO and then 14 years as CEO of Nedbank Group, I look back with pride on our achievements and the challenges we have overcome together,” said Brown.

“I leave behind a Nedbank that is stronger, more competitive, more agile, and more digital than when I was first appointed as CEO.”

With a market cap of R120 billion, Nedbank is one of the biggest banks in South Africa and is part of the Big Four alongside Standard Bank, FirstRand and Absa.

With Nedbank’s financial heft, Brown’s remuneration over the last 15 years has been handsome, with the CEO earning R500 million during his time in charge.

The CEO’s pay rose from R12 million in 2010 to R92 million in 2024. He also received over R37 million in his four months as CEO in 2024. 

Total executive pay

Brown was not the only group executive to receive a large payout, even if several other executives saw their total earned remuneration drop over the year.

Unlike traditional remuneration packages, which are primarily composed of a standard salary, large parts of senior executive pay are linked to short-term and long-term incentives, such as bonuses based on the company’s performance.

Due to these differences, executive pay packages can fluctuate aggressively, as is the case for several Nedbank executives who saw some big drops in total pay year-on-year in 2024.

Group COO Mfundo Nkuhlu’s package dropped 41.9% to R37 million, while Group CFO Mike Davis also saw a 41.6% drop to R35 million.

The Group Managing Executive for Nedbank Wealth, Iolanda Ruggiero, saw her pay drop by 63% to R15 million, while retail and business banking head Ciko Thomas saw a 40% drop to R32 million.

Corporate and Investment Banking CEO Anél Bosman saw her pay drop by 28% to R39 million, while Terence Sibiya, head of Africa Regions, saw his pay decline by 30% to R25 million.

Despite receiving only R27 million in remuneration for 2024, new CEO Jason Quinn received over R80 million in long-term incentives, which will be paid in the future.

The first year of Quinn’s leadership has been positive. The group’s headline earnings increased by 8% to R16.9 billion, and its ROE improved from 15.1% to 15.8%.

Quinn noted that improved non-interest revenue, lower impairment charges and targeted expense management underpinned the headline earnings growth.

Executives