Pay for Wells Fargo’s top executives soars after TARP exit
Freed from government compensation restraints after repaying bank bailout funds, Wells Fargo & Co. more than doubled the pay of its top executives, with a $21.3-million package going to Chairman and Chief Executive John G. Stumpf.
The bank disclosed the compensation for 2009 in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday. Stumpf’s pay shot up 142% from $8.8 million in 2008.
Repaying $25 billion to the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program on Dec. 23 relieved Wells Fargo of restrictions on institutions receiving government funds.
The San Francisco-based bank said it rewarded the executives to ensure that they would remain in place as the company digests its acquisition of Wachovia Corp., which Wells Fargo bought as the financial crisis was at its most intense.
Most of the pay came in the form of stock awards.
In addition to Stumpf, the company disclosed total compensation for three senior executive vice presidents -- David Hoyt, Mark Oman and David Carroll -- and for its chief financial officer, Howard Atkins.
Hoyt got $13.5 million, up from $4.8 million, while Oman received $12.7 million, up from $3.6 million. Carroll got a $14.3-million package; his 2008 pay was not disclosed because he was not a Wells executive before 2009.
Atkins received $11.6 million in total compensation for 2009, up from $4.9 million the year before.
