Israeli Subsidiary Executives Outearn Group CEOs by Millions in 2025
A 2025 executive compensation study reveals that subsidiary heads at major Israeli firms, including Phoenix and Discount Bank, earn up to 6.7 times more than group CEOs.
A recent executive compensation analysis for 2025 reveals that top managers in several Israeli corporate subsidiaries earn significantly more than their group CEOs. Conducted by David Asher of xhon.io based on annual reports from TA-35 index companies, the study highlights notable discrepancies across major financial and energy groups.
The most striking gap appears in Phoenix Holdings. Yitzhak Oz, chairman of Phoenix Insurance Agencies, reported a compensation package totaling approximately 28.27 million shekels for 2025. In contrast, Eyal Ben Simon, CEO of the Phoenix Group, received about 4.2 million shekels, making Oz's package roughly 6.7 times larger—a difference of nearly 24 million shekels in a single year.
Additional executives within Phoenix also outearned the group CEO. Erez Yosef, chairman of Phoenix Gamma, reported compensation of 9.45 million shekels, while Oren Cohen, CEO of Phoenix Insurance Agencies, reached approximately 7.75 million shekels.
A similar phenomenon occurs in the banking sector. At Israel Discount Bank, Ziv Biron, former CEO of IDB New York, recorded compensation of about 9.49 million shekels in 2025, more than double the 4.32 million shekels earned by Israel Discount Bank CEO Avi Levi. Other New York-based executives, such as private banking senior Sagi Asraf and IDB New York CEO Avner Mendelson, also surpassed the group CEO's figures due to regulatory differences, as Israeli executive pay caps do not apply to IDB New York's top five earners.
At Bank Leumi, Michael Schiller, CEO of Leumi UK, earned 5.75 million shekels, outperforming group CEO Hanan Friedman's 4.39 million shekels. Ron Ben Haim, CEO of Leumi Partners, also surpassed the group leader with 5.52 million shekels.
Subsidiary executives in insurance and energy groups likewise command high compensation. Sagit Dotan, CEO of the credit card company Max, reported 5.09 million shekels, exceeding Clal Group CEO Yoram Naveh's 3.9 million shekels. At Menora Mivtachim, ERN and Mimon Be-Click CEO Shai Perminger recorded 6.18 million shekels compared to group CEO Ari Kalman's 3.8 million shekels. Meanwhile, at OPC Energy, US-based CFO David Vickerman registered a compensation cost of approximately 23.55 million shekels—nearly triple that of OPC CEO Giora Almog—though a significant portion stems from long-term equity incentive plans rather than cash salary.
