May 12, 2019 (LBO) - Shemara Wikramanayake, CEO of global investment bank Macquarie, earned over $18mn in the last fiscal year. Her total annual renumeration makes her one of the highest paid executives in Australia. The disclosure of her compensation came out as the company she leads reported earnings of $3bn for the year.
Wikramanayake was born born in the UK and spent time schooling in Sri Lanka. Her father was a Sri Lankan medical doctor, and her grandfather a well known Queen’s Counsel. According to the recently published series of articles, her grandfather represented the monk who was convicted in the assassination of Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister S.W.R.D Bandaranaike. This apparently led to political persecution, and a forced family migration out of Sri Lanka.
Macquarie is a globally diversified financial group employing more than 14,000 people in 25 countries. Its CEO has historically been the highest paid of any listed company CEO in Australia. It has a market cap of US$30bn and is one of the world’s largest listed investment banks.