Shemara Wikramanayake, the first woman CEO of Macquarie Group, announced her retirement effective November, after nearly 40 years with the firm and eight years at its helm. She departs with a significant stake in the company, holding 1,474,481 direct shares recently valued at A$254.93 each, totaling over A$375 million (approximately US$250 million). In addition, she holds 378,091 restricted share units and 62,106 performance share units, which would further increase her total remuneration. Her annual salary last year was just under A$30 million, making her one of Australia's highest-paid chief executives.
Wikramanayake's tenure saw Macquarie's market capitalization increase by 162% to $97 billion. The company reported a full-year profit of $4.85 billion in May. Her departure comes hours before the company's annual general meeting, where executive compensation was expected to be a contentious issue, although only 5% of shares voted against her pay package this year. This contrasts with 2025, when the company received a "first strike" with 25.4% of votes against its remuneration report.
Greg Ward, currently deputy managing director and head of banking and financial services, will succeed Wikramanayake. Ward, a 30-year Macquarie veteran, was the chief financial officer for 14 years and has been instrumental in growing the retail bank's market share in residential home loans from 2% to 7% since 2015. Analysts have noted Ward's strong understanding of the business and success in addressing regulatory issues within the banking division, though some express caution regarding his potential allocation of capital for new opportunities like renewables and data centers. Ward's compensation last financial year was $12.5 million.
