Naspers CPO Aileen O'Toole on the outperforming group's secret sauce: Executive pay is 90% based on risk

Setting pay scales is among the most vexing of challenges for multinational corporations. But the complexity becomes almost overwhelming for a group like Naspers which competes against global tech titans but is headquartered in one of the most unequal societies on earth. Adding to this complexity is the double edged sword of its early investment in Tencent, the Hong Kong start-up that has become one of the world’s biggest internet businesses. Because of the huge impact of Tencent’s uplift for Naspers, shareholders fret that executives who weren’t around when the investment was made are now are getting a free ride. Then there’s the impact of a European-based executive team being paid in hard currency which appear extreme in terms of the rand reporting base. Naspers’s Chief People Officer Aileen O’Toole has the responsibility for this hot potato. As you will hear in this episode of the Rational Perspective , her approach has been to push for the highest possible level of transparency to encourage rational debate. The centrepiece is a radically enhanced 25 page remuneration report that was released on Friday alongside the 2018 annual report. Already there's been a fair amount of uninformed comment.