South African banking chief executive gets R120 million

Nedbank chief executive Jason Quinn received a total awarded remuneration of R120 million in 2024, far exceeding what he lost when he left Absa.

Quinn was an Absa stalwart. He joined the company in July 2008 as group financial controller and quickly moved up the ranks.

He was promoted to chief financial officer (CFO) of Absa’s retail and business banking division before becoming head of finance in May 2014.

In September 2016, Quinn became Absa’s group financial director, a position he held until he departed from the banking group.

Quinn also served as Absa’s interim group chief executive officer from April 2021 to March 2022 during a transition period.

In November 2023, Absa announced that Quinn had resigned as group financial director of Absa Group and Absa Bank.

On the same day, Nedbank announced that Quinn would replace Mike Brown as chief executive at the close of the Nedbank Group AGM on 31 May 2024.

Absa’s annual report showed that he forfeited R60 million in long-term incentive awards by leaving to take up the top job at Nedbank.

Absa said Jason Quinn ceased to be the group financial director and executive director on 22 November 2023.

“His fixed remuneration was prorated for the time served as an executive director during 2023,” Absa said.

Nedbank’s latest annual report showed that Quinn did not lose out despite the R60 million in lost long-term incentive awards from Absa.

Quinn received a total awarded remuneration of R119.7 million from Nedbank in the 2024 financial year.

His total remuneration included a guaranteed package of R6.124 million, a short-term incentive of R10 million, and a long-term incentive of R80.7 million.

When Quinn joined the bank in June 2024, the bank also gave him a deferred short-term incentive of R22.9 million.

“This award represents the partial payment of 40%, R9.15 million before tax, of the total deferred short-term incentive award made in June 2024,” Nedbank said.

It added that this amount is repayable in full should Quinn cease to be employed by Nedbank Group for any reason other than no-fault termination before 30 May 2027.

“The remainder of the award (60%) will be payable on 20 June 2027, subject to ongoing minimum individual performance conditions,” it said.

How much Nedbank executives got paid in 2024

The table below discloses the total remuneration awarded for the financial year and the total remuneration earned in the financial year.

The total remuneration awarded for the 2024 financial year contains the following components:

• The guaranteed package (GP) awarded for the 2024 financial year.
• The total short-term incentive (STI) awarded for the financial year.
• The long-term incentive LTI awarded in March 2025 for the 2024 financial year, at face value.

Nedbank highlighted that the 2024 total earned remuneration for its top executives was meaningfully lower than 2023.

For example, Nedbank’s chief operating officer, Mfundo Nkuhlu, saw his earned remuneration decrease by 41.9%.

“This can be attributed to a decline in the LTI vesting outcome, lower share price appreciation over the comparable periods, and a 0% MSS match in 2024,” it said.