Discovery's Mayers earned more than Gore

Discovery spent R103m on the total remuneration package of its nine executive directors and R146m including three prescribed officers and 11 non-executive directors.

Although Discovery is known for its medical insurance‚ its Discovery Life unit is the biggest contributor to group earnings and the trend is expected to continue in the next year.

Discovery Life contributed about 52% or R1.8bn of the group's normalised profit of R3.4bn in the year to end June.

The annual report shows Mayers was paid a total remuneration of R16.9m‚ made up of a basic salary of about R5m‚ a performance bonus of R4.9m‚ a phantom scheme bonus of R6.1m‚ provident fund contributions of R624‚000 and R180‚000 in other benefits which included medical aid contributions‚ travel and other allowances.

Discovery's Adrian Gore received a total payment of R11.3m‚ made up of a basic salary of R3.4m‚ performance bonus of about R4.6m‚ phantom scheme bonus of about R2.6m‚ provident fund contributions of R549‚000 and other benefits worth R107‚000.

Excluding the benefits from the phantom scheme‚ Neville Koopowitz‚ the chief executive of PruHealth‚ Discovery's UK health insurance arm‚ was arguably the highest paid executive.

Koopowitz was paid a basic salary of about R7.6m‚ a performance bonus of about R4.6m‚ provident fund contributions of R131‚000 and R26‚000 in other benefits.

In the year to end June 2011‚ Koopowitz received total pay of R26.4m after being paid out all his phantom shares and bonuses in preparation for his emigration to Europe.