Wells Fargo and Truist CEOs got a significant pay boost last year. See how much
The leaders of two of Charlotte’s largest banks saw their pay increase in 2021 by about 20% each as earnings bounced back from pandemic-era challenges.
Both Wells Fargo and Truist filed proxy statements this week detailing the change. Truist, the combination of former banks SunTrust and BB&T, is based in Charlotte and has 2,800 workers. Wells Fargo has its headquarters in San Francisco but its largest employment hub here, with more than 27,000 workers.
Both banks saw their earnings and stock price rise last year amid the ongoing COVID pandemic and despite other challenges: Wells Fargo with its cost-cutting efforts and continued regulatory struggles, and Truist in pulling off the last pieces of its merger of SunTrust and BB&T.
Here’s what each CEO earned last year, according to the filings.
Wells Fargo CEO pay
Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf saw his pay increase by about 20% in 2021.
Scarf’s total compensation was $20.3 million in 2020 and $24.5 million last year. That included a $5.4 million cash bonus and an unchanged base salary of $2.5 million, according to the filing. Additional compensation included such areas as stock awards.
Scharf exhibited “strong leadership” last year that “resulted in significant progress on our risk, regulatory, and control work, increased diverse representation, and improved financial returns,” the bank’s board of directors said of his performance.
Wells Fargo continued to cut costs last year, closing hundreds of branches and shrinking its headcount.
And the bank is still recovering from the regulatory impact of its 2016 fake accounts scandal, when it was discovered employees had created millions of accounts without customers’ knowledge.
While Wells has come out from under a few regulatory consent orders in the past year, it was also slapped with a $250 million fine from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for failing to effectively compensate harmed borrowers.
Scharf’s annualized compensation is nearly 300 times higher than the $73,578 that the median salary a Wells employee makes, according to the filing.
The banks’ shareholder meeting will be held virtually on April 26. Shareholders will vote on seven shareholder proposals, on topics like compensation, diversity and a new climate change policy that would ensure Wells’ lending and underwriting business didn’t contribute to new fossil fuel development.
Truist CEO pay
Truist CEO Bill Rogers got a pay raise and a promotion last year.
Rogers saw his total compensation rise from $8.7 to $10.4 million, an increase of about 19%, according to the bank’s proxy statement.
Formerly the president and chief operating officer at Truist, Rogers took over as the new bank’s chief executive in September, following a previously agreed upon arrangement with former BB&T CEO Kelly King.
King’s total compensation last year amounted to $15.3 million, according to the filing. He stepped down from the CEO position last fall, and stayed on as chairman of the board through March 12.
Rogers’ compensation included a $1.1 million base salary and $4.1 million in stock awards. The median salary for an employee at Truist is $95,659 annually, according to the filing. Rogers’ compensation is about 109 times higher that that.
SunTrust and BB&T merged to form Truist in 2019. The bank recently fully converted to its new name and branding this quarter. The transition, when complete at the end of this month, will result in 800 branch closures and 6,000 new Truist signs across the bank’s markets.
Truist’s shareholders meeting will also be held virtually April 26. Shareholders will vote on one shareholder proposal to appoint an independent chairman of the board of directors — someone who isn’t a current or former CEO.
Other bank CEOs’ compensation
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan also saw his total compensation increase in 2021, from $24.5 to $32 million.
The Charlotte-based bank’s earnings bounced back this past year after hurting during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, Moynihan had his pay cut for the first time in five years.
The leaders of Charlotte’s largest banks still trail behind other executives in the industry: JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was awarded $34.5 million in compensation last year, and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon got $35 million, according to the New York Times.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 11:51 AM.
