British-born, Sri Lankan Australian tops highest paid CEO list

British-born, Sri Lankan Australian Shemara Wikramanayake has topped Australia’s highest-paid CEO list.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Macquaire Group received a reported pay of $ 15.97 million in the 12 months to June, according to The Australian Financial Review’s annual list. The list is compiled by OpenDirector.

The pay survey revealed that Australia’s 50 highest-paid CEOs earned an average of $ 6.18 million last financial year.

Wickramanayake, who is the daughter of a Sri Lankan migrant, also made history by the first-ever female CEO of Macquarie Group, where she has worked since 1987.