{"id":641922,"date":"2026-04-20T13:56:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=641922"},"modified":"2026-04-20T14:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:06:39","slug":"from-r9-million-to-r65-million-in-two-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/investing\/641922-from-r9-million-to-r65-million-in-two-decades.html","title":{"rendered":"From R9 million to R65 million in two decades"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MTN’s annual general meeting (AGM) is around the corner, and if 2025 is anything to go by, executive pay will rank high on the agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, shareholders voiced their unhappiness with MTN’s executive remuneration and implementation report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most resolutions passed with support ranging between 88.92% and 99.92%. However, there were two exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company’s remuneration policy only received 75.66% support, and the remuneration implementation report received 59.18%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following more than 25% of shareholders voting against the remuneration implementation report, MTN was forced to engage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MTN invited shareholders, particularly those who expressed dissent by voting against the resolution, to share their concerns or recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MTN’s human resources and remuneration committee chair, Khotso Mokhele, argued that the executive pay package was fair, competitive, and performance-driven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our remuneration practices are designed to support and enable our strategy and align with the interests of our stakeholders,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These practices also ensure that we recognise and reward employees fairly and equitably for their contributions to the company’s value-creation journey.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mokhele acknowledged concerns about remuneration, particularly the clarity of MTN’s pay structures and the alignment with long-term value for all stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that shareholder feedback guided their ongoing efforts to align executive pay with the company’s long-term strategic goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company seems to recognise that it needs to enhance shareholder value, as reflected in its Ambition 2030 priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of these priorities is an enhanced shareholder remuneration framework, including a R6-billion share buyback programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MTN’s executive pay packages versus share price<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
MTN CEO Ralph Mupita<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To understand why so many shareholders objected to MTN’s executive and director pay packages, MyBroadband assessed the remuneration against the share price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, MTN CEO Ralph Mupita received a pay package of R64.751 million. Most of this remuneration came from short-term and long-term incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another relevant measure is the remuneration of MTN’s non-executive directors. In 2024, they received a combined R51.435 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, compare this to 2005, when the CEO’s pay package was R8.89 million and non-executive directors were paid R2.97 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although anyone would expect executive salaries and director fees to increase, the question is whether they are aligned with shareholder interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 2005 and 2024, the MTN CEO’s salary increased by 628%, while non-executive director fees increased by 1,632%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MTN share price, in comparison, increased by approximately 50% over the same period. This means shareholders did not receive much value from growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two interesting ratios to consider are share price versus executive pay and share price versus non-executive fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ratio compares the value that shareholders enjoy with the value that the CEO and directors receive from the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the ratio increases, it means shareholders get more value. If it goes down, the executives and directors receive more value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many shareholders would be happy with the ratio remaining stable, as it shows that executive and director remuneration aligns with shareholder value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For simplicity, the MTN share price is compared with the remuneration of the chief executive and directors in millions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In MTN’s case, the ratio declined significantly over the last decade. This showed that executives and directors derive more value than shareholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This explains why many shareholders objected to MTN’s executive remuneration and implementation report at its AGM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

MTN share price<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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MTN Share Price to CEO Pay Ratio (Higher is better for shareholders)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

MTN Share Price to Non-Executive Director Pay Ratio (Higher is better for shareholders)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MTN\u2019s annual general meeting is around the corner, and executive pay will rank high on the agenda. MyBroadband takes a look at this thorny issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":556265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80335],"tags":[100226,42,39564],"class_list":["post-641922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-khotso-mokhele","tag-mtn","tag-ralph-mupita"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641922"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641922"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":642040,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641922\/revisions\/642040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}