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RIO Tinto’s board wants to raise CEO Simon Trott’s target pay by 56% to £9.8m ($13.06m) as miners compete with defence, aerospace and energy transition companies for talent, Reuters reported, citing four sources and company documents.
His maximum package would rise 63% to £18.3m. Short-term incentives would climb to a maximum of 300% of base salary from 200%, and long-term targets to 900% from 500%. The package would cover three years and needs shareholder approval at next year’s annual meeting.
Rio has widened its pay benchmarking group to include Chevron, ExxonMobil and GE Aerospace. Trott’s maximum would sit just below the median of the 19 peers, led by ExxonMobil’s Darren Woods on $33m last year, and ahead of BHP’s Brandon Craig, whose pay is expected to be about $10m and is capped just under $13m, said Reuters.
Remuneration committee chairman Ben Wyatt said Trott’s fixed pay was unchanged but performance-linked incentives would be adjusted to attract and retain strong leadership.
Appointed in July 2025, Trott lifted first-half underlying earnings 43% while restructuring and selling assets.
Some investors worry the proposal could fuel pay inflation among Australian mining bosses and look poor amid a cost-of-living crisis. Ninety One portfolio manager George Cheveley said higher pay was acceptable if aligned with shareholders.
Executives are already on the move, with BHP’s Rag Udd leaving to run Albemarle, the newswire said.