The extraordinary juggernaut that is Mainfreight once again reported record revenues this year, increasing the value of managing director Don Braid’s stake in the company by more than $30 million.
The transport logistics company, founded in 1978, just keeps getting bigger. According to this year’s annual report, it now employs more than 8000 people in 260 branches in 24 countries.
It recently reported record revenues of almost $3 billion, and its shares have been a strong performer this year, giving the company a market capitalisation of about $4 billion.
Braid has a much smaller slice of the business than fellow Rich Lister Bruce Plested, who remains chairman. Nevertheless, at just under 3% of the company, Braid’s shares are still worth more than $110 million.
Not surprisingly, he is also one of New Zealand’s best-paid executives, with a base salary of $2.1 million – an increase of $100,000 on last year. He also received a performance bonus and other perks worth more than $600,000.
It’s a far cry from Braid’s first job as a clerk with the Shipping Corporation before he moved on to Sea Freightways and then Daily Freightways, which was sold to Mainfreight in 1994.
With typical understatement, Braid, 58, described the company’s results as “satisfactory” in this year’s annual report.
“For 41 years we have been building a long-term, sustainable supply-chain business built on a simple premise: provide high levels of service that exude quality with a passionate, motivated team of people, who have the ability to take responsibility for their own efforts in meeting our customers’ expectations,” he said.
The business still has its eye on further global expansion as part of a goal to make it a “100-year company.”
2018: $85 million