Citigroup lifted CEO Jane Fraser’s total compensation to US$34.5 million ($46.31 million) for 2024 — up a third from the previous year — as she continues to drive a plan for higher returns at the Wall Street bank.
Fraser’s pay, the vast majority of which is in the form of stock-linked awards, is up from the US$26 million she received for 2023 and represents the biggest raise among CEOs of large US banks.
Of her new total compensation, almost US$11.6 million is in the form of deferred stock, and US$16.5 million is in performance share units, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.
The Citigroup board’s compensation committee said in the filing that the pay “reflects its belief that Ms. Fraser’s strategic and other priorities are sound and that she is executing on them promptly and thoughtfully, with an eye towards enhanced safety and soundness, improved returns and laying the foundation for long-term sustainable growth”.
The big pay bump for Fraser comes after a period in which Citigroup hit revenue and expense guidance it set out for investors at the start of the year and posted record revenue in three of its five divisions.
She’s also driven a simplification strategy which has involved shedding retail business in countries around the world and reducing 20,000 jobs at the bank, which has long underperformed its Wall Street peers.
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The bank was also buffeted by significant regulatory fines in July and is still burdened by orders from the US Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency linked to its data and risk controls. Fraser also lowered a key target of profitability that was front and center of her campaign.
In 2024, Citigroup’s stock price increase was the second-lowest among the six largest US banks, ahead of only Bank of America.
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It’s now the top performer so far this year, with its shares up more than 20%, after Fraser and Citigroup CFO Mark Mason announced a plan in January to buy back US$20 billion of stock.
Among her CEO peers, Fraser’s pay puts her ahead of both Wells Fargo & Co.’s Charles Scharf and Morgan Stanley’s Ted Pick, who received US$31.2 million and US$34 million, respectively.
Both Goldman Sachs Group’s David Solomon and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon were paid US$39 million, while Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan was awarded US$35 million.
Chart: Bloomberg
