Qld high-flying CEOs and where they call home
The Covid-19 pandemic has wrecked some companies, but the Sunshine State is still drawing in some of the country’s top CEOs. Here’s what they earn and where they live.
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Queensland has become the home to some of the country’s largest companies.
From banking to sporting clubs, construction to mining, chief executives from the state’s largest companies call the Sunshine State home.
We look at some of the top CEOs, what they earn and where they live.
DANIEL BRACKEN, CEO MICHAEL HILL
Salary: $905,000 plus bonus
NORMAN PARK
Jewellery chain Michael Hill CEO Daniel Bracken has more than 25 years’ experience managing some of the world’s most iconic brands. He lives in Norman Park with views across Brisbane and the river. Last year, due to Covid, executives agreed to a 20 per cent cut in remuneration and bonuses would be zero for the second half of the financial year. It also stood down staff across Australia as stores were shut and said it secured rent relief from landlords. According to reports released in August, Mr Bracken’s total remuneration hit $1.091m made up of $905,000 in salary and a $134,000 cash bonus as well as other benefits.
He has an extensive background in retail, fashion, and brand development in Australia and international markets. Before joining Michael Hill in November 2018, he was CEO at Specialty Fashion Group and previously held positions for Burberry London, Myer, and The Apparel Group. During his time at Speciality Fashion Group, he led the company’s corporate restructure and the successful divestment of the Millers, Katies, Crossroads, Autograph and Rivers brands, returning the company to profitability. At Myer, he oversaw merchandise buying, design, sourcing, and manufacturing, and led the Myer brand and customer experience strategy. Mr Bracken said he missed the ferry that ran across the Brisbane River from Norman Park and said it was a shame it was no longer operating.
DON MEIJ, CEO DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES
Salary: $1.4m
GOLD COAST
Don Meij loves Queensland and is one of Australia’s highest-earning CEOs, who started his career as a pizza delivery driver for Silvio’s Dial-a-Pizza at Redcliffe. The 51-year-old owns a multimillion-dollar property on Australia’s Glitter Strip. The father-of-four would reportedly forked out $5.35 million for a full-floor apartment on the Gold Coast. The apartment is in the eight-story Main Beach SEA building and spans 367 sqm with three ensuite bedrooms, two living areas and a study. Other high flyers who have owned property in the apartment block include VIP Pet Foods founder Tony Quinn, cotton farmer Alan Frost, who paid $5 million, and car dealer Greg Eastment. Mr Meij has always admired the beauty of the Gold Coast. Dominos Pizza is one of several Australian businesses which profited during COVID-19, due to a surge in take-out and home delivery.
JAMIE PHEROUS, CEO CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT
Salary: $436,010
NEW FARM
Jamie Pherous, who started his travel-related business in Brisbane in 1994, is on the record saying he is the ASX’s lowest paid CEO. He serves as managing director and executive of the company. He built the group up to be one of the world’s largest travel management companies. Prior to CTM, he was a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen, specialising in business services and financial consulting, notably in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the United Arab Emirates.
Pherous loves New Farm and built a four-level, six-bedroom house on an 1100 sqm block of land at 33 Moray St, at a reported cost of more than $20 million. He paid $11.3 million for the prime riverfront site in 2018 and Brisbane City Council approved the building application for construction of the home in 2019.
Despite a substantial reduction in staff and the heavy impact COVID-19 had on the business travel sector his company has bought the US-based Travel & Transport for $274.5 million.
Corporate Travel did have to cut 1000 staff last year but the company is in a solid financial position with no debt and a strong client retention of 97 per cent.
CLARK KIRBY, VILLAGE ROADSHOW
Salary: $908,765 plus
GOLD COAST
Village Roadshow boss Clark Kirby lives on the Gold Coast in a $10.3 million beachfront mansion at Mermaid Beach. The property was sold by drilling industry veteran Peter Mitchell.
The two buildings on the Hedges Ave property were demolished to make way for a family home. Mr Kirby said the weather and being able to go to the beach with his family were some of the benefits of living on the Gold Coast. His salary fell by about $83,000 to $908,765 last year but with other benefits his total annual remuneration hit about $1.03m. Mr Kirby replaced Graham Burke as Village Roadshow chief executive in 2020. He and wife Sara, a former television presenter, sold their Melbourne home for $17.25 million to move north.
Mr Kirby has held various senior executive roles over more than a decade at the family-established Village Roadshow, including director of corporate strategy, chief operating officer, chairman of Village Cinemas Australia, and executive chairman and chief executive officer of Village Roadshow Theme Parks. He was an investment banker at UBS for four years after graduating from Bond University with a Bachelor of Information Technology and later gaining a Master of Applied Finance and Investment from Macquarie University. It is believed there are three executives at Village Roadshow getting paid more, with Simon Phillipson having the highest compensation of $1,290,270.
DARYL HOLMES, 1300SMILES
Salary: $90,400 plus $2m in dividends
TOWNSVILLE
As the chief executive officer, managing director, and executive director of 1300SMILES, Daryl Holmes has recorded his total salary compensation as $90,400. But the 14.71m shares
he owns in the company, which equate to about two thirds of 1300SMILES, nets him about $2m in dividends. Dr Holmes founded the business after obtaining his dental qualifications at Queensland University in 1987. During the last two years of his five-year degree he accepted a scholarship from the Royal Australian Air Force. After completing his degree, he practised dentistry as a RAAF Dental Officer until 1991, when he began private dental practice in Ayr and Home Hill, North Queensland. Since then, he has operated dental surgeries in the Burdekin region, Townsville, Cairns and in most of Queensland’s major centres.
He bought a statement Townsville residence, a Castle Hill mansion on Stirling Drive, that smashed the city’s price record, paying a whopping $6 million.
Dr Holmes has been a member of the Australian Dental Association for 26 years. He has extensive experience in operating dental practices and an intimate knowledge of the management, administrative and other support services required in a dental practice. He has been a director and deputy chairman of the Cowboys Leagues Club for 11 years.
CRAIG SCROGGIE, NEXTDC
Salary: $3.09m
PADDINGTON
NextDC boss Craig Scroggie and wife Melanie love Brisbane and have a second home in Paddington. They bought their inner-city mansion at 22 Reading St, Paddington, from local developer Paul Gedoun for $8 million. Mr Scroggie has seen huge success with his Brisbane-based company, NEXTDC, which is a data-centre-as-a-service provider. The company took off when the cloud technology sector gave workers the chance to work from home during the virus. The resort-style home on 1550 sqm has sweeping city views, garaging for eight vehicles, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms over three levels. There’s also a 25m pool, cinema and self-contained apartment. Before becoming chief executive officer and managing director of NEXTDC in June 2012, Mr Scroggie was on the company’s board of directors as a non-executive director, including as chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee. He has 25 years of experience in the cloud technology industry, and has had senior positions with Symantec, Veritas Software, Computer Associates, EMC Corporation and Fujitsu. He is also chairman of the La Trobe University Business School Advisory Board and an Adjunct Professor. He graduated from the University of Southern Queensland with an Advanced Certificate in Information Technology, a Graduate Certificate in Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management, a Master of Business Administration; and is a Graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In 2013, he was awarded the University of Southern Queensland Faculty of Business and Law Alumnus of the Year, and in 2015 was inducted into the ARN ICT Industry Awards Hall of Fame.
MATT BEKIER, STAR ENTERTAINMENT
Salary: $1.5 million
BRISBANE
Star Entertainment Group chief executive Matt Bekier’s salary fell to $1.5 million from $1.7m during Covid but his total package is $3,609,870. Reports indicate he was granted a bonus of $829,872 in shares, which were redeemable after 12 months. It was a 40 per cent salary cut limited to the final three months of the financial year. But Mr Bekier is still bullish about the Sunshine state with his Star Entertainment Company ploughing $3 billion in to the Queen’s Wharf development on the north bank of the Brisbane River. Mr Bekier has even bought his own Brisbane unit to spend more time in Queensland with plans for his family to move here. Star has its main casino in Sydney but also plans a $3 billion project of five towers at its Gold Coast Jupiters site. Star will be Queensland’s largest private investor over the next decade. Mr Bekier, 54, took over as boss of the company after working in Star’s finance department. He has five daughters and at the moment spends two days a week in Brisbane. But that is likely to increase as Queen’s Wharf and the Gold Coast development take off.
His total package is $3,609,870 and there are no executives at The Star Entertainment getting paid more.
GRAHAM TURNER, FLIGHT CENTRE
Salary: $600,000
TENERIFFE
Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner took a hit during the pandemic but was looking forward to a brighter horizon this year. The global travel freeze forced the company to stand down about 6000 staff and close 90 stores. So his salary is up in the air. But he and wife Jude will still remain in their luxury Teneriffe abode. They also own a holiday home at Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island, which provided welcome relief from the chaos of 2020 when Flight Centre’s shares plunged, wiping millions off the couple’s wealth. Mr Turner was raised near Stanthorpe, and trained as a veterinary surgeon. In 1973, he and two friends bought a couple of double-decker buses in England and began a holiday travel company, Top Deck Travel. He met his wife Jude through the company, which was floated in 1995. His nickname, Skroo, comes from the famous Turner brand of screw drivers. The company suffered losses of about $849.28 million in FY20. It operates in 23 countries but still remains in the hands of government decisions about safe travel restrictions and the opening of borders.
STEVE JOHNSTON, SUNCORP CEO
Salary: $3,319,000.
EASTERN SUBURBS
Steve Johnston was appointed Suncorp Group chief executive officer and managing director in September 2019 after joining the company in 2006. He has held various executive positions with the company including Group Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for financial reporting and management, legal and company secretariat, taxation, investor relations, corporate affairs and sustainability. Mr Johnston played a key role in rebuilding Suncorp after the global financial crisis. Prior to joining Suncorp, he held senior positions at Telstra and within the Queensland Government. The son of service station operators and a graduate of Mansfield State High School, Mr Johnston has not strayed far from his suburban roots and still barracks for the East Tigers, the junior rugby league team he played for as a boy.
For about 20 years, he has lived in the same home a few suburbs from Mansfield in Brisbane’s eastern suburbs with his wife and two children. As an insurer and banker, Suncorp took a hit during 2020 from bushfires and COVID-19. A pay scandal emerged at the end of 2019 with claims staff were short changed on holiday and penalty loading entitlements. Fixing that was estimated to cost up to $70 million. Mr Johnston will be seen more often at 80 Ann St, where the company has built its new headquarters.
ANDREW HARDING, AURIZON
Salary: $4.34m
BRISBANE
Andrew Harding was appointed managing director and CEO of Aurizon, formerly QR National, in December 2016. The freight rail transport company is the largest of its kind in Australia. The company was privatised and floated on the ASX in November 2010. Mr Harding implemented initiatives to boost the focus on heavy haulage and rail infrastructure in Aurizon. He initiated a new operating structure, a renewed leadership team and a refreshed company strategy. Prior to starting with Aurizon, he was the global chief executive of Rio Tinto’s Iron Ore business. He completed a Bachelor of Mining Engineering at the University of New South Wales and holds an MBA from Deakin University. He is married with three daughters and lives in Brisbane.
KARL MORRIS, CEO ORD MINNETT
Salary: swapped his stake in Ord Minnett for around $11.1m Auswealth shares.
KANGAROO POINT
Karl Morris is the CEO of leading Australian wealth management group Ord Minnett. Mr Morris has a 30-year career in financial services and wealth management and was a commerce graduate of Griffith University with diplomas from the Stockbrokers and Financial Advisers Association of Australia, Institute of Company Directors and FINSIA. After being based in Sydney serving as Ord Minnett chief executive from 2004 to 2009, Mr Morris returned to Brisbane, mainly so his five children, who have now grown up, could attend local schools. Along with his chairmanship of the Broncos and QSuper he has been on the board of charities Bravehearts and the Mary MacKillop Brisbane Catholic School Access Fund. Describing himself as a “cradle-to-grave” Catholic, Mr Morris said his faith had been important to him both in his personal and business life. He previously bought Brisbane’s most expensive house in a deal believed to be worth more than $18 million. The architect-designed three-level house at Leopard St is on Kangaroo Point cliffs and has 71m of frontage giving uninterrupted direct city and river views. It features six bedrooms, six bathrooms and a five-car garage, as well as an internal lift, gym, steam room and climate-controlled wine cellar.
RORY MURPHY, CEO CANSTRUCT:
Salary: Undisclosed (Murphy family is set to make in the order of $150m in bottom-line earnings from its Nauru contract)
TENNYSON
Canstruct International CEO Rory Murphy paid a whopping $17.6 million for the property at 1 King Arthur Tce, Tennyson, Brisbane’s second most expensive address. Canstruct is a construction and services company which operates out of Yeerongpilly and won the lucrative federal government contract to run the immigration detention centre on Nauru. Rory Murphy was instrumental in Canstruct’s business growth and operational expansion. He was responsible for overseeing all aspects of Canstruct’s operations including corporate strategy, financial management, business development strategy, industrial relations and other corporate objectives. He joined in 2004 and was appointed as the CEO in 2010. Since his appointment as CEO, he has diversified Canstruct’s service offering to include integrated operational management in remote locations. The house is on 4224sq m and has seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, six-car garage, a pool and tennis court. It also has a private pontoon and 98m of river frontage and unobstructed northern views.
Originally published as Qld high-flying CEOs and where they call home
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