David Murray to be paid $850,000 a year as AMP chairman

David Murray’s $850,000 pay cheque as chair of embattled AMP is more than three out of the top four bank chairs receive.

David Murray is getting $850,000 a year as AMP chairman. Pic: Hollie Adams

Governance guru David Murray has helped himself to a bigger pay cheque as chair of the scandal-hit AMP than three out of the top four bank chairs, collecting $850,000 a year.

Only the Commonwealth Bank’s Catherine Livingstone gets more — $870,000.

In contrast acting AMP chief executive Mike Wilkins is getting relatively less pay than his peers, given his pay cheque of $1.46 million with no bonuses.

The AMP pay was revealed as the embattled wealth manager posted a 74 per cent plunge in half year net profit following damaging royal commission revelations which claimed the jobs of previous chair Catherine Brenner and CEO Craig Meller.

Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn picked up $1.3 million in fixed pay last year with total pay, including past bonuses, of $2.8 million.

ANZ chair David Gonski is paid $825,000, Westpac chair Lindsay Maxsted is paid $830,000 and NAB chair Ken Henry gets $790,000.

When CBA chief, David Murray was paid a $4.7 million bonus in 2002 for serving as the bank boss for more than 10 years.

This payment was disclosed in the bank’s annual report that year just weeks after CBA cancelled executive share options at the height of a political storm over the payments.

The Murray payment was part of a contractual agreement he signed when he started as chief in 1992.