"At the top end we've got people, professionals, in company management and so on, earning obscene amounts of money from the big corporates," he says.
"It's absolutely obscene compared to the people who are making these things work."
By obscene, he means more than $500,000. Above that and it's out of proportion with the average wage of the organisation they're running.
Sir James was born into the meat rendering industry: his family ran a huge factory in the Waikato, boiling down animal remains to make glue and shoe soles and whatnot.
His parents sent him to prep school in the US and then he went hitchhiking around Europe as a 17-year-old. He returned with a love of art and, a few years later, began his collection by buying a Toss Woollaston watercolour.
Now, he lives in the historic Pah Homestead, which houses the James Wallace Arts Trust's collection of contemporary New Zealand art.
His trust owns the mansion, and he pays $1000 a week in rent to live there. The NBR says the house contains 6000 works worth about $50m.
He supports numerous theatre, dance and music charities, and makes the money to do so through his inherited meat business.
Sir James says he gives away pretty much every spare dollar he has, although he does admit to the odd treat for himself. He enjoys skiing and travel-oh, and he drives a Porsche.
