Seven West Media managing director and CEO Jeff Howard faces a tough annual general meeting this week, after one of Australia’s most influential proxy advisory firms recommended shareholders vote against the company’s remuneration report.
In a report circulated among clients earlier this month and obtained by Capital Brief, CGI Glass Lewis criticised the “high” fixed remuneration awarded to Howard, whose pay nearly doubled to $1.25 million when he was promoted to the top job last year. The firm argued the figure is difficult to justify.
The report puts the top executives of the nation’s two biggest free-to-air TV operators in the firing line of investors heading into their AGMs this week, after Nine Entertainment was criticised by the firm for the high pay awarded to CEO Matt Stanton earlier this month.
In Seven’s case, Glass Lewis noted that the peers cited by the company in its annual report — including Nine Entertainment and EVT — “operate at materially larger scale and market capitalisation”. The firm also said Seven’s performance has “deteriorated further” in the 2025 financial year.
