Citi paid CEO Jane Fraser $26 million for 2023, the bank disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday. That makes her, for the third year in a row, the lowest-paid CEO of the six biggest U.S. banks.
But in each year, the floor has been raised. Fraser received $22.5 million in 2021, her first year atop Citi. Then the bank paid her $24.5 million for 2022, tying her with Wells Fargo’s Charlie Scharf on the bottom rung of big-bank pay packages.
However, while Scharf saw an 18.4% pay boost last year, Fraser’s raise was 6.1%.
Fraser’s pay package breaks down to a $1.5 million salary, a $3.675 million cash bonus that makes up 15% of her incentive, $8.575 million in deferred stock that vests over four years, and $12.25 million in performance share units that hinge equally on the bank’s return on tangible common equity and tangible book value over three years.
Fraser’s raise also comes despite a 38% decrease in net income at Citi in 2023, although the bank saw its revenue jump 4% over the year.
From an execution standpoint, 2023 undoubtedly stands among Citi’s toughest years. The bank in September launched its largest reorganization since the 2007-08 financial crisis, aligning itself among five divisions and shedding management layers gradually. All told, Citi expects to cut 20,000 employees by 2026 — reducing headcount in some units and levels by 10%.
Citi’s compensation committee, in Tuesday’s filing, stood by the effort, saying the CEO’s pay “reflected [the] belief that Ms. Fraser’s strategic and other priorities are sound and that she is executing on them promptly and thoughtfully, with an eye toward driving long-term sustainable growth, improved returns and enhanced safety and soundness.”
The committee credited Fraser for progress in the bank’s long-running revamp of its risk and control infrastructure, an effort meant to resolve regulatory consent orders presumably tied to Citi’s 2020 Revlon payment gaffe.
The committee also cited Fraser’s leadership in luring “external talent” to the bank — a nod to the March hiring of Andy Sieg, formerly of Bank of America, to helm Citi’s wealth management unit.
And the bank noted Citi’s continuing withdrawal from 14 foreign retail markets, and the Federal Reserve’s termination of a foreign-exchange-related enforcement action against Citi dating to 2015.
Fraser’s raise is on trend with the payment trajectories of other major U.S. bank CEOs. The only top-six bank chief to see a decrease in pay in 2023 was Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, whose pay shrank to $29 million from $30 million.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, meanwhile, saw a 24% increase to $31 million. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon received a 4% bump to $36 million. And James Gorman, the top earner of the bunch, received a 17.5% compensation boost, to total $37 million in his final year as CEO of Morgan Stanley.
Citi will disclose 2023 compensation for its other executive officers next month in its proxy statement, the bank said Tuesday.
