Wall Street: The golden pay for bank CEOs – Financial Post

They are paid handsomely every year by the heads of banks and other companies in the financial industry, with earnings totaling tens of millions of dollars per senior executive.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Blackstone, HSBC, Bank of America and Standard Chartered are among those companies that have announced their executive salaries in the last few days for 2023, along with their financial results.

In fact, most of these salaries come not from monthly salaries, but from stock rights, dividends and other benefits offered by Wall Street firms and not just to their top executives. These are the bankers who annually conclude deals worth billions of dollars, whether they are acquisitions, or providing services in selling shares in the markets, or investments in the markets of raw materials and commodities. Advertisements so far are indicative.

Fees

– Steve Schwartzman, CEO of Blackstone, in 2023 received – nothing less, nothing more – $896.7 million in fees and profits from the company. Blackstone is the world's largest private equity firm. For 2023, Schwarzman's dividends are $777 million. He also received $119.8 million in regular compensation, down 53% from the $253.1 million he earned in 2022, according to company data. Schwartzman owns about 231.9 million shares of Blackstone, and the company pays an annual dividend of $3.35 per share.

– Investment bank Goldman Sachs, which reported its lowest profits in the past four years, gave a 24% increase in CEO David Salomon's total pay. He received $31 million for 2023. The board rewarded Salomon for changing the strategy of the bank, which last year cut thousands of jobs and faced a slowdown in investment banking. Salomon's $31 million pay consists of $2 million in base salary and a $29 million bonus, most of which is paid in stock. Salomon will make $25 million in 2022 and $35 million in 2021.

The bank said that the pay of JPMorgan Chase Chairman Jamie Dimon rose by about 4.3 percent to $36 million for the year 2023. The head of the largest American financial institution had received $34.5 million in both 2022 and 2021 amid a state of economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and the effects remaining due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dimon's 2023 pay package included a $1.5 million salary and a $34.5 million performance bonus that included $5 million in cash and $29.5 million in stock, according to the bank. “The 2023 annual charge reflects Dimon's management of the company with growth across all market-leading sectors, record financial results and a very strong balance sheet,” the bank's board said. “In addition, the company has successfully navigated and supported clients through regional banking disruption, including completing the acquisition of First Republic” last year, she added.

– James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley, saw his profits rise 17% in 2023 to $37 million. He is scheduled to officially retire in May, ending his nearly two-decade tenure at Morgan Stanley, which reported lower profits for fiscal 2023 as it fell 32% year-on-year to $1.5 billion. Gorman is considered one of the most successful heads of major investment banks in the United States.

– Citigroup said it raised CEO Jane Fraser's total compensation by about 6% to $26 million by 2023. Her compensation included a base salary of $1.5 million, a cash bonus of $3.7 million, and $20.8 million in stock tied to her performance. Last month, Citi announced that 20,000 workers could lose their jobs as part of a restructuring program after the bank reported its worst fourth-quarter profits in 15 years.

– Bank of America paid CEO Brian Moynihan $29 million in total compensation for 2023, which represents a slight 3% decrease compared to the previous year. This salary included a salary of $1.5 million plus a bonus of $27.5 million, mostly in Bank of America stock. He did not receive any cash bonus for 2023.

– At HSBC CEO Noel Quinn saw his salary almost double as he took home £10.6 million ($13.4 million) in 2023, up from £5.56 million in 2022. HSBC will pay out total bonuses of $3.77 billion in 2023 This is the highest level since 2013. The bank said that its pre-tax profits rose 78% to $30.3 billion in 2023.

– At Standard Chartered Bank CEO Bill Winters saw his pay rise 22%, according to Bloomberg, citing the London-based bank's 2023 earnings report. Winters' total pay reached $9.9 million last year, up from $8.1 million In 2022.