Former Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie is the highest-earning banking boss in South Africa, earning R105 million, while Investec CEO’s remuneration has dropped by more than 50% from the year before.
The CEOs leading South Africa’s major banks – Capitec, Standard Bank, Investec, Absa, and Nedbank – earned substantial compensation over the last year.
This reflects the reality that, while demanding, executive roles in banking and other sectors are highly rewarding, especially for those who perform exceptionally well.
Gerrie Fourie retired from Capitec in July 2025 on a high note, leaving his role as CEO in the hands of his successor, Graham Lee.
As of November 2025, Fourie acts as a non-executive director of the private education group STADIO Holdings.
Fourie’s earnings, based on his single-figure remuneration as CEO, increased by nearly 60% from the previous year, reflecting Capitec’s strong performance in 2025.
This significant salary increase was primarily due to the vesting of Long-Term Incentives (LTI) following his exit from the bank. His LTI totalled R75.02 million in 2025, compared to R42.38 million in 2024.
Additionally, Capitec’s share price rose by 52%, enabling the bank to exceed its target for Short-Term Incentives (STI).
The second-highest-earning banking CEO in South Africa is Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala, earning R89.22 million for the 2025 financial year.
Tshabalala rose in ranking as his salary increased by 7% from R83.30 million in 2024, moving up from third to the second-highest earning banking CEO in 2025.
This salary increase consists of a fixed pay of R11.9 million, cash incentives of R10.8 million, and vested long-term incentives totalling R53.3 million.
Investec CEO Fani Titi earned the third-highest salary at roughly R81.3 million, which was converted from his salary of £3.36 million.
| CEO | Bank | Latest pay | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gerrie Fourie | Capitec (former) | R105 million | R287,671 |
| Sim Tshabalala | Standard Bank | R89 million | R243,835 |
| Fani Titi | Investec | R82 million | R224,658 |
It is important to note that Investec’s directors are paid in pounds sterling (£). Consequently, they earned significantly more when converted to the local currency due to the weakness of the rand.
However, Titi’s single figure remuneration decreased significantly in the 2025 financial year, falling 35.9% from R127 million (£5.2 million) in 2024.
His single figure remuneration is determined by fixed pay for the year, along with short-term and long-term incentives, which require performance conditions to be met.
Hit hard but still afloat
In 2024, Titi was ranked the highest-earning banking CEO, earning 1.4 times the annual average wage in a single day and nearly double that of the second-highest-paid banking CEO.
According to Investec’s Integrated and Strategic Annual Report from March 2025, Titi’s total single-figure remuneration declined due to a significant decrease in the value of LTI’s vesting and a strategic reduction in his fixed salary.
Titi’s 2025 pay includes: short-term Incentive (STI): Titi achieved results between on-target and stretch for both financial and non-financial measures.
Long-term Incentive (LTI): Titi’s performance on financial measures was slightly below target, while his results for non-financial measures fell between on-target and stretch.
Titi’s fixed pay decreased by 19% to £880,000 (R21 million). His personal security benefit increased by 6.5% to £49,000 (R1.2 million).
After reaching his financial and non-financial goals, Titi’s STIs rose by 8.8% to £1.6 million (R38 million). However, his LTIs decreased by 67.6% to £862,000 (R21 million).
Despite the large salary reduction, Titi remains one of the highest paid banking CEOs in the country, still earning more than many other banking CEOs.
