Wells Fargo paid CEO Charlie Scharf $31.2 million in 2024, the bank disclosed Thursday in a securities filing. That represents a 7.6% increase from the $29 million Scharf received a year earlier.
The package breaks down to $2.5 million in base pay, a $7.2 million cash bonus and $21.5 million in long-term equity, the bank said.
Wells’ board of directors credited Scharf with driving strong financial performance, returning roughly $25 billion to shareholders and finding a desired mix of business units for the bank. The bank continued its de-emphasis of home lending in 2024, introduced five new credit cards, and grew its “premier” offering for affluent clients, the board said.
The board also noted “significant progress” in strengthening Wells’ risk and control infrastructure, which, it added, “remains the Company’s number-one priority.”
Scharf took control of Wells in 2019, not long after the Federal Reserve hit the bank with the $1.95 trillion asset cap, which remains in effect.
Wells was subject to more than a dozen consent orders when Scharf was appointed chief executive. It has resolved seven in the past five years – many connected to the fake-accounts scandal that has plagued the bank with regulatory scrutiny.
The bank announced Tuesday that it had resolved a 2022 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau consent order over automobile and mortgage lending and consumer deposit accounts.
Wells Fargo is the third of the six largest U.S.-based systemically important financial institutions to disclose its CEO compensation for 2024. JPMorgan Chase disclosed last week that its CEO, Jamie Dimon, received $39 million for last year. That matches the compensation Goldman Sachs gave CEO David Solomon. Dimon’s pay increased 8.3% from 2023; Solomon’s, 25.8%.
Bank of America, Citi and Morgan Stanley are expected to disclose their CEO pay packages next month. In that respect, it remains to be seen if Scharf’s pay will outpace that of BofA CEO Brian Moynihan, who – like Wells’ chief executive – received $29 million in 2023.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson had no comment beyond Thursday’s securities filing.
