Nicholas O’Kane, Macquarie Bank’s $170 million man, shocked many in the financial industry when he announced he was quitting his lucrative role.
O’Kane has earned that eye-popping figure for more than six years since joining the executive committee of the company, dubbed the “millionaire factory,” in 2017.
He has been with Macquarie since 1995 and earned $57.6 million in the bank’s 2023 financial year.
Her pay package dwarfed that of Macquarie Bank chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake, whose total ‘remuneration’ for 2023 weighed in at just $32.8 million in comparison.
Despite O’Kane’s staggering wealth, he has remained relatively out of the public eye, with many surprised by Tuesday’s announcement that he is leaving Macquarie.
Nicholas O’Kane, Macquarie Bank’s $170 million man, announced he would resign this week
Wikramanayake said he was stepping away from the company for “personal reasons” during an operational report this week.
‘He has made a huge contribution and impact. Part of that has been building an incredible team around the world, primarily across the commodities business, but also, more recently, across CGM,” he said.
O’Kane brought great success to Macquarie in his role as head of the global commodities and markets (CGM) group.
Profits at Macquarie’s CGM soared to $6 billion last year, up from $1.6 billion in 2018, and O’Kane’s earnings have given him the title of the company’s highest-paid executive.
He even pocketed more than Wall Street bigwigs Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
O’Kane snapped up Sydney’s most expensive home of the year in 2021 – a spectacular $40 million property in Point Piper overlooking the harbour.
The house belonged to Sydney FC president Scott Barlow, who bought it in 2010 for $8.8 million.
Mr. O’Kane is also a big Richmond Tigers fan and his office is filled with paraphernalia from the football team, the Australian financial review reported.
Bank CEO cited ‘personal reasons’ for O’Kane’s sudden departure
The majority of the salary awarded to O’Kane last year came from $39.8 million in retained earnings sharing, which is an ongoing program paid over seven years.
That was nearly double its share of retained earnings of $21.3 million in 2022.
By comparison, his base salary was very humble: just $723,419 in 2023. He also took home a disposable profit share of $17 million.
The extraordinary pay package recognizes that O’Kane’s department had played a key role in increasing profits 10 per cent year on year, despite a difficult market.
The bank earned the nickname “millionaire factory” for its generous salary and bonus structure over the past 20 years, but insists all rewards are linked to performance.
Macquarie Bank has also earned a reputation as a company that “works hard and plays hard.”
A book titled ‘The Millionaire Factory’, written by the Australian newspaper’s Joyce Moullakis and Chris Wright, gave insight into Macquarie’s turbocharged atmosphere.
This included people having sex in showers or under the desk and drinking from the well-stocked refrigerator while working 12 to 16 hour days.
The bank earned the nickname “millionaire factory” for its generous pay and bonus structure over the past 20 years, but insists all rewards are linked to performance.
In the run-up to the 2008 global financial crisis, the party culture in Macquarie was such that going to a “gentlemen’s club” on the same street was a tradition every Wednesday lunchtime – but only for bankers. men – and one day pornographic magazines appeared. They were found in one of the bathrooms.
The liquor fridge opened at midday, and by the early 2000s – when Macquarie’s after-tax profits rose from $250 million in 2002 to $1.803 billion in 2008 – party culture was endemic.
The parties were held in five-star hotels, on yachts and included lavish gifts for loyal Macquarie workers, including on one Christmas occasion a keychain from luxury jewelery house Tiffany.
O’Kane will leave his role at the end of February to be replaced by Simon Wright, the current head of CGM’s financial markets unit.