“The base salary and incentive pay for Wells Fargo & Co. chief executive and president Charles Scharf was unchanged in fiscal 2022 — confirming what the bank’s board of directors took the unusual step to announce on Jan. 27.
However, Scharf’s total compensation rose by 14.9% to $24.54 million based mostly on a sizable increase in the value of stock awards provided in 2022.
Wells Fargo’s other four named executives also received a similar hike in the value of their 2022 stock awards.
(Noting most of his pay comes from stock and stock options:)
The compensation breakdown for Scharf: $2.5 million base salary; $5.36 million in incentive pay; a long-term performance share award valued at $10.8 million; and a long-term restricted share rights award valued at $5.8 million.
All other compensation was $142,487, listed as: $131,894 in personal use of company aircraft 🙄; $7,500 “for accessing and implementing residential cyber security improvements”; $2,911 for commuting by company car; and $192 for health benefit membership.
(I will RTO if I can commute via a paid company car.)
The board is sending a signal to both Scharf and the market that it’s satisfied with his performance in what is clearly a difficult year for the bank.
“The board doesn’t want to lose his services as the company CEO, but at the same time, given the bank’s poor fourth-quarter numbers and continuing regulatory problems, there’s just no way they could give him a raise this year.”
(The “no raise” is misleading bs, since most of Charlie’s compensation comes from stock.)
Bowman Gray IV, a local independent stock broker, said it “is an intelligent move on Scharf’s part” to agree to no change in his core compensation for 2022.
“Had he not preemptively made this request, the board would likely have offered an increase and a bonus of some sort, which would have landed with a resounding thud with shareholders, regulators and the general public.”
Other top executives
Wells Fargo reported that all of its remaining four listed executives were paid $1.75 million in base salary, all unchanged from 2021.
Jonathan Weiss, Wells Fargo’s chief executive of its Corporate and Investment Banking unit, received a 98.7% boost in incentive pay to $3.82 million and total compensation of $13.84 million, up 53.5%.
Michael Santomassimo, Wells Fargo’s chief financial officer, received a 71.4% jump in incentive pay to $3.15 million and total compensation of $12.81 million, up 6.8%.
Mary Mack, Wells Fargo’s chief executive of its Corporate and Small Business Banking unit, received a 62.1% increase in incentive pay to $2.53 million and total compensation of $11.77 million, up 47.2%.
Scott Powell, Wells Fargo’s chief operating officer, received a 25.8% gain in incentive pay to $2.48 million and total compensation of $10.44 million, up 12.2%.”