Chanda Kochhar Salary: Rs. 5.12 crore

Chanda Kochhar is an incredible overachiever. At a very young she was appointed the Managing Director of ICICI Bank, a gigantic powerhouse with a market cap of 142,230 crores. Since the day she took charge (1.5.2009), ICICI Bank has gone places, giving its shareholders a return of 158%. While the growth was tempered in the early years to curb NPAs, it has been on a growth trajectory in the recent past. In the last one year itself, the stock has given a 51%.

For her stellar contribution, Chanda Kochhar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2011 and recognized by Forbes as the 65th most-powerful woman in the World.

Now, with a salary of Rs. 5.12 crores, Chanda Kochhar has achieved the distinction of being the highest paid banker in the Country.

The other top-notch bankers were hot on Chanda Kochhar’s heels. Aditya Puri, the star MD of HDFC Bank came within touching distance with an annual salary of Rs 5 crore. Shikha Sharma, CEO of Axis Bank took home Rs 3.45 crore while wiz-kid Uday Kotak, MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank, had to remain content with a salary Rs 2.19 crore. In contrast, Rana Kapoor, MD of YES Bank, was literally poverty stricken with a salary of “only” Rs 2 crore.

Ironically, Rana Kapoor of YES Bank, who received the least salary, gave the best performance to the shareholders. Yes Bank gave its delirious shareholders a YOY gain of 52%. Rana Kapoor holds 2,00,00,000 shares of Yes Bank (5.59%) which is personally worth an incredible 1028 crore.

Of course, Rana Kapoor’s holding of shares in Yes Bank was no match for Uday Kotak’s holding of shares in Kotak Mahindra Bank. Uday Kotak holds 30,62,63,550 shares (41.02%) in Kotak Mahindra Bank worth a mind-blowing Rs. 23,766 crores, putting him firmly in the Forbes billionaire list.

In terms of shareholders’ return, Chanda Kochhar’s ICICI Bank came second with a 51% YOY return while Shikha Sharma’s AXIS Bank came third with a 47% YOY return. For the fourth place Aditya Puri’s HDFC Bank and Uday Kotak’s Kotak Mahindra Bank were tied with a 42% YOY return.

So, this is a great time for the bankers as well as their shareholders. If you still haven’t invested in private banks, you need to wake up and smell the coffee!