If a CEO’s family gets to fly for free on the corporate private jet, is that worth anything to the CEO?
We’d have thought: obviously, as said CEO is saving the money he or she would otherwise spend on airfares. But Santos disagrees.
Australian listed companies that pay for executives’ families to fly on commercial airlines often disclose the value of such flights as remuneration. But Santos’ $US6770 “other” figure barely seems enough to cover five family trips in what must be the equivalent of domestic business class. But that still leaves the now-historic travel of Gallagher’s family on the executive jet, in the period covered by the most recent annual report.
But why hadn’t Santos counted the value of the flights as part of Gallagher’s pay? We asked, and were merely told the company “complies with all laws relating to disclosure and transparency of the CEO’s remuneration, including fringe benefits assessment and taxation, and will continue to do so”.’s spectacularly combustible 2004 divorce laid bare the many perks he’d been getting at GE, the US Securities and Exchange Commission cracked down on what was dubbed “stealth compensation”.