No salaries: How key promoters earned via dividends, incentives

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During fiscal year 2025, several top executives and promoters of listed companies opted for zero salaries, earning instead through dividends, bonuses, and other forms of compensation.

These include Infosys’ Nandan Nilekani, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Deepinder Goyal of Eternal, Murli Krishnan Prasad Divi of Divi’s Laboratories, Rahul Bhatia of InterGlobe Aviation, Mohit Burman of Dabur India, Samir Uttamlal Mehta of Torrent Pharmaceuticals, and Vikas Oberoi of Oberoi Realty.

Murli Krishnan Prasad Divi, founder and managing director of Divi’s Laboratories took no salary for the fourth consecutive year, but received a bonus of Rs 87.87 crore in FY25. With a 2.85 percent stake in the company, his share of the 1,500 percent dividend amounted to Rs 114 crore. According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, his current net worth stands at $9.8 billion.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals chairman Samir Uttamlal Mehta also drew no salary in FY25 but earned Rs 30 crore as commission. At Torrent Power, he took no salary and received a bonus of Rs 16.5 crore. The Mehta family, holding over 68 percent of Torrent Pharmaceuticals and 51 percent of Torrent Power, collected dividends totaling Rs 1,950 crore in FY25. According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Mehta’s net worth stands at $7.7 billion.

Vikas Oberoi, chairman and managing director of Oberoi Realty, has not taken a salary since 2015. Holding 58.5 percent of the company and with a net worth of $4.8 billion, he received Rs 170 crore from the 80 percent final dividend declared in FY25.

Nandan Nilekani, non-executive and non-independent chairman of Infosys, took no salary during the fiscal year. He holds a 1.1 percent stake in the company, and based on the final dividend of 860 percent for the year, he received a payout of around Rs 45.7 crore.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, has taken no salary since the pandemic, after capping his remuneration at Rs 15 crore from FY09 to FY20. As the largest shareholder, he received a significant portion of the Rs 7,446 crore total dividend declared in FY25, with promoter holdings slightly above 50 percent.

Rahul Bhatia, managing director of InterGlobe Aviation, holding a 37.5 percent stake, is taking zero salary for his entire term, showed the annual report. Bhatia received a dividend of Rs 145 crore in FY25, and his current net worth is around $8.5 billion. Deepinder Singh Goyal of Eternal also took no salary, holding a 3.83 percent stake valued at Rs 11,200 crore. At Dabur India, Amit Burman, Mohit Burman, Saket Burman, and Aditya Burman took no salaries. With a combined 66 percent holding, the family received Rs 936 crore from the final dividend of Rs 8 per share.

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