DOUGLAS MCINTYRE, Daily Finance
Wells Fargo (WFC) CEO John Stumpf made $21.3 million last year, up from a mere $8.8 million in 2008, according to the preliminary proxy the bank filed with the SEC on March 3rd. The four executives under him, including the CFO, the head of wealth management, the chief of wholesale banking, and the head of consumer finance, made an average of $13 million. Stumpf’s cash compensation was over $5 million and he also received nearly $45,000 in perquisites which included use of a company car.
Welcome to the world after TARP repayment, and less than two years after the credit crisis nearly brought the U.S. banking system to it knees.
The Wells Fargo board may argue that its CEO posted strong enough results for the firm’s stock to be up 250% during the last year, but that’s no better the the improvement in Citigroup’s (C) shares, and well below the run-up in the shares of Bank of America (BAC). Advocates of Stumpf’s pay package might argue that he deserves his compensation simply because Wells Fargo is still around and several other large banks and investment banks are not.
The Administration and Congress are still considering significant restrictions on bank activity in the future, including the Volcker rule, which would sharply restrict proprietary trading. There is no guarantee that if bank executives had taken more modest pay politicians would not be as aggressive in “punishing” financial firms with greater oversight, but paying a bank CEO $21 million certainly does not help.
Read more here: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/company-news/wells-fargo-chief-makes-21-3-million/19382717/
