CEO pay at Swiss blue-chip firms rose to $10 million on average in 2024, Ethos says

ZURICH, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Average CEO pay at Swiss blue-chip companies rose 7.4% year-on-year to 8.3 million Swiss francs ($10 million) in 2024, proxy advisory firm Ethos said on Thursday, remaining below U.S. and UK levels but among the highest in continental Europe.

Median CEO earnings at the largest-listed companies were 19 million francs ($24 million) in the United States and 7.3 million francs in Britain, compared to 7.1 million francs in Switzerland last year, it said in a study of CEO remuneration.

The increase in average CEO pay at the 20 biggest companies on the Swiss stock exchange was driven by a large increase at Partners Group PGHN.S, with growth accelerating over the past two years, Ethos said.

Flemming Ornskov, CEO of skin care company Galderma GALD.S topped the list at 19 million francs, followed by UBS UBSG.S CEO Sergio Ermotti and his counterparts David Layton at Partners Group and Vasant Narasimhan at Novartis NOVN.S, the study showed.

Still, differences between awarded and realised remuneration due to long term incentive plans meant that Jan Jenisch, former CEO of cement manufacturer Holcim HOLN.S, effectively made 45.8 million Swiss francs in 2024, Ethos calculated.

Salaries earned by company bosses have been a contentious issue in Switzerland for years, with voters in 2013 backing a binding say for shareholders over executive pay, and a parliamentary committee this year drafting strategies to rein in bankers' pay.

($1 = 0.8068 Swiss francs)