US media mogul Rupert Murdoch was named Australia's top paid executive Tuesday, with a 2004 pay package up nearly 50 percent and almost twice that of his nearest rival. Days after shareholders of his News Corp voted to move the media giant's headquarters from South Australia to the US state of Delaware, The Australian Financial Review survey put Murdoch's annual pay package at 20.6 million US dollars.
His nearest rival, Westfield Holdings boss Frank Lowy, received slightly more than half that amount with a package worth 14.6 million Australian dollars (11.1 million US).
The News Corp chairman and chief executive received a base salary of 4.5 million US dollars and a 12.5 million US dollar bonus, the newspaper said. His package was up 46.5 percent on the previous year.
The survey also showed Australia's top executives received overall a 29 percent pay rise, underpinned by the country's best string of corporate results in more than a decade.
Others on the list included Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon who came ninth with almost 6.1 million Australian dollars.
Born an Australian, Murdoch founded his media empire based on a single newspaper in the South Australian state capital Adelaide.
The group now owns newspapers around the world, including a large proportion of those in Australia, plus other media interests including television and film. Murdoch is now a US citizen.