How rich is the chairman of our Dream Team?

John Schubert, chairman: no management blemishes from his time running Esso Australia and Pioneer International, chaired Worley Parsons as it became a powerhouse and has steered the Commonwealth Bank to number one whilst also helping turn around BHP-Billiton since joining the board in 2000. His stint as President of the Business Council cements his credentials for chairman.

However, there was one blemish - sitting on the Qantas board and stoicly endorsing the private equity takeover until the very last when investors were being told blatantly inaccurate information about the airline's soaring prospects. Then again, one director was always going to struggle to stare down that cosy duo of Geoff Dixon and Margaret Jackson, especially when James Packer and the Macquarie Bank machine were also ferociously on board the privatisation bandwagon.

The Qantas board did the right seeing off Jackson and Packer immediately after the bid collapsed and bringing in cleanskin Leigh Clifford as the new chairman was also a good move.

In researching Schubert, it has only just dawned on us that his biggest pay day has come in the three years after he left the Worley Parsons board, which he chaired from 2000, through the float in late 2002 before leaving the board in February 2005.

The stock was trading at around $6 in early 2005 when he retired and Schubert had amassed 1.513 million shares by then, having secured 1.217 million shares before the float, which was priced at just $2 a share.

Worley Parsons closed at $50.91 on Friday, so if Schubert has hung onto his entire stake, this parcel is now worth a staggering $77 million. With the exception of Gary Pemberton at Billabong, no other professional director has had a bigger pay day than this and it is worth reflecting that Schubert was only paid $110,000 in his final full year as Worley chairman.

However, Schubert's Worley riches haven't translated into huge shareholdings in the companies where he remains a director, so maybe he sold out for less than $10 million. He's the Commonwealth Bank chairman with just 24,418 shares worth $1.44 million, whilst his 23,675 BHP-Billiton shares are worth $994,000 and the 34,753 Qantas shares clock in at just $202,000.

Macquarie Bank is well known as the Millionaire Factory, but as you'll see in the next item, Worley Parson has produced at least 10 individuals who have each made more than $20 million, including CEO John Grill whose 13.7% stake was worth $1.676 billion on Friday.

It truly is a great Australian success story that should be celebrated.

Copyright © 2024 The Mayne Report. All rights reserved

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