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R90m per year: Meet Discovery Group’s highest-paid executive — and it’s not the CEO

Posted on October 23, 2025
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Neville Koopowitz received a fixed salary of £1.1 million per year, approximately R25.4 million.

Discovery Vitality Health CEO Neville Koopowitz, received more than £4.4 million in remuneration for the 2025 financial year. Considering that Discovery is a South African headquartered company and today’s exchange rate, Koopowitz earned more than R92 million, making him the highest paid executive at the group.

Vitality Health is a subsidiary of Discovery Group, which is operated in the United Kingdom. Discovery Group was launched in 1992 and is led by founder Adrian Gore. Under the group are Discovery Bank, Discovery Life, Discovery Health, Discovery Insure, Discovery Invest, and Discovery Vitality.

Apart from Vitality Health, internationally, Discovery operates through Vitality Life and Vitality Corporate Services. The group reported R15 billion in normalised profit from operations for the year ended 30 June 2025.

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Highest-paid Discovery executive

Koopowitz received a fixed salary of £1.1 million per year, which is approximately R25.4 million.

According to the group’s remuneration report for the year, his performance bonus and long-term incentive plan (LTIP) were R38.2 million (£1.64 million) and R37.9 million (£1.63 million), respectively.

A CEO’s salary is typically set by the company’s board or a remuneration committee, based on market benchmarks, experience, and company size. It often includes a base salary plus performance bonuses tied to short-term targets and a LTIP that can be paid in cash or company shares.

Second-highest paid Discovery executive  

Discovery Bank CEO, Hylton Kallner, received more than R60 million in remuneration for the 2025 financial year, making him the second highest paid executive at the group.

According to the group’s remuneration report for the year, Kallner became the highest-paid executive at the group due to his performance bonus and LTIP.

For the year, he received a performance bonus worth R25.7 million and LTIP worth R25.7 million. The report did not specify if the LTIP was paid in cash or in company shares.

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Group CEO payday

Gore walked away with remuneration worth more than R37.2 million. He received a fixed salary of R9.3 million per year, approximately R778 843 per month.

He also received a performance bonus and LTIP, but his were way less than Kallner. Gore’s performance bonus was R13.2 million, and his LTIP was also R13.2 million.

Other Executives

Barry Swartzberg, the group’s co-founder and Vitality Group CEO, received R26.1 million for the year. According to the group’s website, Swartzberg was instrumental in creating Discovery Health’s marketing, distribution, and operational functions.

He received a fixed salary of R6.7 million per year, approximately R564 151 per month. His performance bonus was R9.1 million, and so was his LTIP.

Another important figure in the group is group CFO Deon Viljoen. He received remuneration worth R29.7 million for the year. His annual salary was R7.1 million, approximately R596 182 per month. His performance bonus was R10.5 million, and so was his LTIP.

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