Meet the European channel's highest-paid CEOs

CRN's sister publication CPI ranks CEOs from firms including Computacenter, Bechtle and Capgemini by salary

More than two thirds of Europe's top CEOs took home higher earnings in 2018 than the previous year, with one exec taking home two times as much in bonuses.

CRN's sister publication CPI has delved into financial accounts to track how CEO salaries and bonuses have fluctuated based on latest available figures. In this article, we reveal how much chief execs from channel heavyweights such as Computacenter, Bechtle, Cancom, Capgemini and Atos earned in their last financial year, and how their total remuneration changed year on year.

The headline figures we've cited include the fixed salary and bonuses of each CEO, and excludes any share-based compensation. Each total has been converted into euros for the sake of easy comparison.

All data has been gathered from latest available financial accounts - either posted on company websites or through national registers.

Rune Syversen, Crayon - €355,398

Acquisitive SAM specialist Crayon has ambitions to become a €1bn-revenue colossus over the next year or two, up from €641.59m in 2016. The Norwegian firm made a bold return to the Oslo Stock Exchange at the end of 2017 after spending five years under equity house Norvestor. At the time, it claimed the IPO would free up NOK 300m (€32m) to fuel further growth, including acquisitions.

Company accounts reveal that co-CEO Rune Syversen earned NOK 3.53m in 2017, comprising NOK 2.2m as a fixed salary and NOK 1.25m in bonuses. Syversen's pay packet grew by a sizeable 58 per cent between 2016 and 2017 as the CEO and co-founder did not receive a bonus in 2016.

Syversen's fixed salary is three times higher than the average Crayon employee salary of €74,675.

Crayon has thrived since listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Its share price was up by 27 per cent by the end of June last year and has risen by 13 per cent over the last 12 months. Its market capitalisation stands at a current NOK 1.24bn.

Competitors SoftwareONE and Softline took notice in May last year. Both firms acquired minority stakes in Crayon, which Syversen at the time claimed was an indication of the firm's attractiveness.

Stanislas de Bentzmann, Devoteam - €523,636

Despite growing revenues by 12.7 per cent year on year in 2017, and operating profits by 21 per cent, CEO and co-founder Stanislas de Bentzmann's pay packet shrank by 28 per cent to €523,636 in 2017. The exec earned 58 per cent less in bonuses compared with the previous year.

His annual fixed salary in 2017 was 4.5 times higher than the company average of €46,742.

Paris-based consultancy Devoteam was one of 2018's fastest-growing channel partners. Its share price shot up by as much as 30 per cent over the first six months of the year, and grew revenues by 22.4 per cent to €155.2m in its latest financial quarter.

Jason Clark, Proact - €579,995

Jason Clark stepped down as Proact's CEO in May last year, and the storage integrator is now being led by Jonas Hasselberg, who previously led the consumer business of SEK 79.9bn telco Telia.

Proact posted a widely positive 2018, with EBITA jumping by seven per cent to SEK 200.5m while revenues grew by a modest two per cent to SEK 3.32bn.

Proact is yet to publish CEO renumeration for 2018, so we've had to fall back on 2017 figures for former CEO Clark. His salary in 2017 grew by a modest three per cent in 2017 to SEK 5.93m, comprising SEK 3.9m as a fixed salary and SEK 1.8m in bonuses. His annual fixed salary was six times higher than the company average of €75,238 per year.

Jo Maes, Ordina - €595,000

2018 built on a somewhat transitional 2017 for this Dutch systems integrator. A raft of job cuts made during the year were part of a €15m cost savings programme which left a mark on its financial performance.

Revenues grew by 4.8 per cent year on year in 2018 while EBITDA rocketed by 29 per cent as the Dutch firm began to benefit from its cut backs.

Jo Maes replaced Stépan Breedveld as CEO on 1 April 2017 and has since steadied the ship at the Nieuwegein-headquartered firm.

Maes, who led Ordina's Belgium business for three years before becoming group CEO, took home €595,000 in salary and bonuses in 2018. His bonus grew by a whopping 100 per cent over last year, meaning his total earnings were 29 per cent higher than 2017.

Vincent Paris, Sopra Steria - €662,400

Sopra Steria hasn't published CEO remuneration figures for 2018, so we've had to revert to 2017 numbers. The CEO of one of France's largest IT services firms took home a relatively modest pay packet for a company as large as Sopra Steria. His earnings totalled €662,400 in 2017, representing a 16 per cent increase on the previous year. Sopra Steria added €100,000 to Paris' fixed salary for 2017, but his bonuses dipped by six per cent.

Paris' salary was 12 times higher than the average Sopra Steria wage of €42,587.

The €3.8bn-turnover company's revenues grew by 2.8 per cent in 2017, while operating profits on business activity leapt by 8.6 per cent. Its UK business, however, was in the doldrums over the course of 2017, with operating profits declining by 38 per cent.

To See where Computacenter's Mike Norris ranks, view the full article on Channel Partner Insight