Rio Tinto’s board has proposed increasing chief executive Simon Trott’s target remuneration package by 56 percent to £9.8 million, about $13.06 million, according to four people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by Reuters. The maximum package would rise 63 percent to £18.3 million under a three year policy that requires shareholder approval at next year’s annual meeting. Short term incentives would rise to a maximum of 300 percent of base salary from 200 percent, and long term incentives to 900 percent from 500 percent, while Trott’s fixed pay remains unchanged.
The mechanism is the benchmarking group. Rio has widened the peer set it uses to set executive pay to include Chevron, ExxonMobil and GE Aerospace alongside miners, reflecting surging pay at defence, aerospace and energy transition companies. On Reuters’ reporting, Trott’s proposed maximum would sit just below the median of a 19 company peer group led by ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods at $33 million last year, and ahead of BHP chief executive Brandon Craig, whose pay is expected to be about $10 million and is capped just under $13 million. Remuneration committee chair Ben Wyatt told Reuters the changes are designed to drive performance, support the long term strategy and attract and retain strong leadership in a competitive global market, and that the company is consulting investors ahead of the policy update.
Trott was appointed in July 2025 and delivered a 43 percent jump in first half underlying earnings this year while restructuring and selling assets, which is the board’s performance case for the rise. The counter case is already visible: Reuters reported some investors worry the proposal could fuel pay inflation among Australian mining bosses and present poor optics during a cost of living squeeze, while Ninety One portfolio manager George Cheveley said higher pay was acceptable if aligned with shareholders. Reuters also noted executive movement across the sector, including BHP’s Rag Udd leaving to run Albemarle, as evidence of the talent market the board is pricing against.
Because the story rests on a single wire’s reporting of unpublished documents, the figures should be treated as the proposal under consultation, not an adopted policy. The annual meeting vote is the decision point, and the consultation responses from Rio’s largest holders are the next signal.