Chief executives took a sizeable pay cut this year amid the coronavirus pandemic which has slashed the pay of their workforces, with leading bosses such as Macquarie's Shemara Wikramanayake, Transurban's Scott Charlton and Qantas' Alan Joyce among those to take the biggest hit.

CSL chief executive Paul Perreault topped the list of highest paid CEOs. Mr Perreault received $16.17 million in reported pay and a take-home pay packet of more than $28.22 million, after the biotechnology giant's share price rose more than 33 per cent last financial year and emerged as one of the big winners from the pandemic.