As of: March 6, 2024, 9:34 a.m
By: Natascha Berger
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With a salary of more than 400,000 euros per year, the current WDR director Tom Buhrow is the top earner among the ARD bosses.
Now it is clear: whoever is his successor should get less.
Cologne – At Westdeutscher Rundfunk (
WDR
), the new director is expected to earn less than Tom Buhrow (65), who is about to retire.
The former “Tagesschau” reporter is the best-paid director of
ARD
with a basic salary of 410,000 euros .
The
WDR
board of directors announced on Monday that the starting salary of the future director should be “significantly below Buhrow’s salary”.
The WDR board chair Claudia Schare explained to the Evangelical Press Service (
edp
) that the new director's salary should take his previous professional career into account.
Lower pay after the new election is important to the board of directors of the largest
ARD
broadcaster, says Claudia Schare.
This also corresponds to a recommendation from the
ARD
committee chairs' conference .
In addition to the salary, it is currently assumed that Buhrow's successor will also receive a lower pension.
Overall, the goal is to reduce overall expenses when a new appointment is made.
Tom Buhrow is the top earner among the ARD bosses.
One thing is clear: his successor should earn less.
© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
With less salary: Who could follow WDR director Tom Buhrow
Tom Buhrow, who has been
WDR
director since 2013, announced in December that he was resigning from his position six months earlier than expected.
The journalist wants to retire at the end of 2024.
Tom Buhrow's successor, who will probably have to make do with slightly less annual income, is expected to be elected by the
WDR
broadcasting council on June 27th.
According to edp,
Jörg Schönenborn (program director for information, fiction and entertainment) or Andrea Schafarczyk (program director for NRW, knowledge and culture) are considered
possible candidates .
The former interim director of the
rbb
, Katrin Vernau, is also said to be in discussion for the position.
Although no precise information was given regarding the new director's salary, the salaries of the possible successors should already provide an indication.
Jörn Schönenborn received 259,900 euros in 2022 including all salaries,
WDR
administrative director Katrin Vernau received 295,000 euros from
rbb
.
WDR director is the top earner at ARD: in 2022 he earned over 433,000 euros
Tom Buhrow received total compensation of 433,200 euros in 2022.
This makes him not only the ARD boss with the highest salary, but also one of the top earners in Germany.
The total remuneration is said to have included, among other things, compensation for expenses amounting to 3,700 euros and benefits in kind amounting to 16,100 euros.
The WDR director must pay remuneration from supervisory board mandates that exceed 6,000 euros per year to the public broadcaster.
Kai Gniffke, director of SWR and chairman of ARD, recently explained why he considers the directors' high salary to be appropriate.
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Criticism of director salaries – Christian Lindner also has a clear opinion
The announcement that the next director should earn less caused a lot of reaction on social media.
There are some comments of a critical nature under the
FAZ
's Facebook post .
“Even if you cut him 2/3, he would still have more than 2/3 of the employees,” writes one user.
Someone else commented: “That's 36,000 euros per month.
Some people earn that a year.
Congratulations, Mr. Buhrow.” The director’s salaries are not only a topic of conversation on Facebook.
There are also some critical statements in politics.
Christian Lindner (FDP) said in 2022 that he thinks no director should earn more than the Chancellor.