BlackBerry CEO John Chen has been found to be the highest paid executive in Canada, according to a report issued by the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives. The report, which is based on 2013 to 2014 financial compensation, stated that Chen took home $89.7 million.
Top paid executives in Canada
Donald Walker, CEO of Magna, stood in second place with compensation of $23.4 million. Last year, Gerald Schwartz was the top paid CEO with $21.1 million. The former CEO of Ritchie Bros Auctioneers, Peter Blake, stood in the last spot in the list of the top 100 paid executives with earnings of $4.3 million.
To calculate the total compensation, the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives took salaries, bonuses, share grants and stock options into consideration. Only two women made it onto the coveted list: Linda Hasenfratz of Linamar Corp. ($10.1 million) and Dawn Farrell of TransAlta Corp. ($4.5 million).
Between 2008 and 2013, the 100 top paid CEOs of the country saw growth of about 25% in compensation amounting to $9.2 million on average. This growth rate was almost twice as fast as the average wage for Canadians.
From 2013 to 2014, a decline of 2% was noted in the compensation of Canada’s highest paid CEOs, but they still managed to make $8.96 million each on average, the report says. The Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives says the amount is 184 times the average wage in Canada. The research group informed readers that in 2014, the average wage for a full time worker was $48,636.
BlackBerry rolls out security patch for the Priv
In other BlackBerryy news, in order to bring its latest smartphone – the Priv – on par with Google’s latest security standards for January, BlackBerry has started rolling out a small patch. The Priv is getting this security patch earlier than Google’s own Nexus line-up, emphasizing BlackBerry’s commitment to security.
The patch is just a small 16MB file that will first come to the Privs sold on ShopBlackBerry.com and on a number of other carriers around the world. The update will be available to the Privs sold at Canadian carriers sometime next week, according to BlackBerry representative Michael Clewley, who tweeted the patch’s announcement.
On Monday, BlackBerry shares closed down 1.56% at $9.14. In 2015, the stock lost almost 16%, while in the last one month, it has gained almost 18%.
