Wells Fargo & Co, the biggest US home lender, gave chief executive officer John Stumpf a US$21.3 million compensation package for last year, the most officially reported so far among US banking CEOs.
Stumpf, 56, received US$5.6 million of salary and stock awards of US$13.1 million, while his deferred compensation plan increased in value by US$2.58 million, the San Francisco-based bank said in a federal filing. JPMorgan Chase & Co has said Jamie Dimon, head of the second-biggest US bank, got a bonus package of about US$17 million that didn’t include cash. A formal disclosure detailing the entire package is still pending.
Wells Fargo repaid US$25 billion in US Troubled Asset Relief Program funds in December, freeing it from federal rules on pay. The bank had resisted pressure from lawmakers to cut compensation amid public anger about taxpayer bailouts of lenders during the credit crisis. US President Barack Obama has called bank bonuses “obscene.”
“We are in the midst of the biggest recession since the 1930s and this type of top pay for executives is unfathomable,” said Kent Wong, director of the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California at Los Angeles. “For them not to recognize the huge public outrage over executive pay is unthinkable.”
Packages for four other senior Wells Fargo executives topped US$11 million, exceeding the US$9.6 million for Goldman Sachs Group Inc CEO Lloyd Blankfein and the US$6.51 million for Bank of America Corp’s Brian Moynihan.
Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, ranks first in the US by assets. Wells Fargo ranked fourth.
While Wells Fargo’s board said government influenced its decisions, “compensation paid to the named executives appropriately balances the objectives of those regulatory requirements with the company’s longstanding pay-for-performance philosophy and the need to attract, retain and motivate outstanding senior leadership,” the filing said.
Stumpf’s pay includes US$10.3 million in shares that don’t vest until December 2012 and depend on achieving company performance goals, spokeswoman Melissa Murray said. He also received US$2.8 million in restricted share rights that don’t vest until next year, she said. Stumpf and his senior managers didn’t receive cash bonuses last year, she said.
David Hoyt, head of wholesale banking, had total compensation of US$13.5 million, while Mark Oman, head of home and consumer finance, was listed at US$12.7 million. For chief financial officer Howard Atkins, total compensation was US$11.6 million. David Carroll, head of wealth management, had a package valued at US$14.3 million.
Carroll is the highest-ranking executive remaining from Wachovia Corp, the Charlotte-based bank acquired by Wells Fargo in January last year. Thomas Montag, head of Bank of America’s global banking and markets units, received US$29.9 million, according to company filings. Montag’s sum included a US$20 million restricted stock award set in May 2008 when he was hired by Merrill Lynch & Co, before the firm was sold to Bank of America.
Wells Fargo last week said it reduced Stumpf’s salary to US$2.8 million for this year, according to a company filing.
Wells Fargo shares declined 6.15 percent last year including dividends, compared with a 26 percent total return in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
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