Outgoing Qantas CEO Alan Joyce sells $17 million in shares

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce still has five months left in his role but he’s alreay sold almost all his shares in the airline.

Alan Joyce still has five months left in his role as Qantas CEO – but he’s already sold almost all his shares.

Mr Joyce made the decision to sell almost $17 million worth of shares in the airline while reportedly on his way to the International Air Transport Association AGM in Istanbul, Turkey where he also revealed plans for his retirement.

Mr Joyce accumulated a 2.5 million share stake since 2012 after becoming chief executive. And at that time they were trading at about $1.50.

Alan Joyce still has five months left in his role as Qantas CEO – but he’s already sold almost all his shares. Picture: John Grainger

But following the sale through ANZ for $6.74 on June 1, he will be left with 229,000 — worth $1.45 million at current market prices.

While the shares were sold on the market, it’s unusual for a CEO to liquidate nearly their entire holdings when they’re still in the role,The Herald Sun reported.

Usually they sell down their stake after they have left the company — which for Mr Joyce

is in November this year when Vanessa Hudson takes over.

Mr Joyce sold $17 million worth of shares in the airline, leaving him with 228,924, worth $1.45 million at current market prices. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Qantas shares last traded at $6.35 each, down 4.1 per cent and prior to the sale Mr Joyce was a top 20 shareholder in Qantas with more than 2.7 million shares in the airline.

However, the move means he has pocketed a cool $16.9 million and according to the airline’s most recent annual report, Mr Joyce still has a large number of share rights at his disposal understood to be in the millions, according to The West Australian.

The sale comes just days after Mr Joyce purchased a penthouse in The Rocks overlooking the Sydney Opera House for $9 million.

Qantas’ chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson, will take the reigns as CEO in November this year. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

The departing Qantas CEO and his husband Shane Lloyd acquired a second half-floor apartment adjacent to that property last week.

The couple also plan to sell their $19 million harbourside mansion in Mosman.

Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Turkey this week, Mr Joyce said come his retirement, he’s got big plans to travel — though none include air travel

“I’m going to take six months off, decompress, not make any decisions, go for a cruise around the Antarctic believe it or not, go well away from any aircraft and then make my mind up about what I want to do after that,” Mr Joyce said, according toThe Australian.

Ms Hudson, who was also in Turkey, will become the first woman to lead the company when she officially takes over in November.

Ms Hudson, currently the group’s chief financial officer (CFO), has worked in a number of executive positions across the company over 28 years, including chief customer officer and senior vice president for Qantas across the Americas and New Zealand.

She is set to receive a base salary of $1.6 million and while this represents a significant increase from her previous position as CFO, it falls short of the $2 million base salary that current CEO Alan Joyce takes home.