For their work as supervisors of stock corporations, normal supervisory board members received an average of 131,400 euros last year, 3 percent more than in 2023. This emerges from an evaluation by the German Association for the Protection of Securities Ownership (DSW). A chairman of the supervisory board of a DAX company earned an average of just over 436,000 euros (+3.8 percent) in 2024, while a deputy chairman of the supervisory board earned just under 287,000 euros (+3.6 percent).
According to the study, the total compensation increased by 4.4 percent to a good 128 million euros. The companies that were included in the DAX at the end of August 2025 were evaluated. The index represents the 40 largest listed companies in Germany away.
Volkswagen at the top
“As in the previous year, Volkswagen’s supervisory board received the highest total compensation,” said a DSW spokesman. In total, around 7.8 million euros were paid out to the members of the 20-member committee in 2024. Behind them follow Deutsche Bank (also around 7.8 million euros) and BMW (around 5.8 million euros).
Of the supervisory board chairmen, Alexander Wynaendts from Deutsche Bank (950,000 euros), Michael Diekmann from the alliance (758,000 euros) and Hans Dieter Pötsch from Volkswagen (679,000 euros) received the highest remuneration.
According to DSW, the highest paid supervisor was Birgit Steinborn, deputy chairwoman of the supervisory board Siemens, with 452,000 euros. In the overall ranking she is in 22nd place.
The IG Metall pointed out that members of the DGB unions are obliged to pay a large part of their supervisory board royalties to the union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation. “The basis for this is an appropriate guideline,” explained a spokesman. According to this, a simple member of the supervisory board must pay 10 percent in royalties up to the limit of 5,000 euros per year. “From this limit onwards, 90 percent must be paid.” For deputy chairmen of the supervisory board, the limit is 7,500 euros.