Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan’s pay stays steady at $26.5 million

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan’s pay for 2019 stayed flat at $26.5 million, the Charlotte-based bank said Friday.

The bank’s board gave Moynihan $25 million in restricted stock and a base salary of $1.5 million for his performance, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The amount and structure are the same as 2018. His total compensation for 2017 was $23 million.

Justifying the pay, the bank pointed to a 42 percent rally in the bank’s stock price, as well as an increase in dividends per share. The filing also cited the bank’s “strong returns” and net earnings of $27.4 billion last year.

Moynihan, 60, is in his 11th year as CEO of the country’s second-largest bank. His tenure has seen the bank’s stabilization from the financial crisis, alongside steady revenue and stock price growth. Bank of America has 208,000 employees companywide, with 16,000 in Charlotte.

Moynihan has received praise from investors for sharply increasing the efficiency of the bank and delivering growth beyond the pace of the overall economy. Despite a decade running the bank, Moynihan has generally brushed off talk of retirement.

Warren Buffett, the revered CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and Bank of America investor, said in a January story in Fortune that “Moynihan and retirement should never be in the same sentence. If he does retire someday, I hope he comes to work for Berkshire Hathaway.”