The salary of John Stumpf, the top executive at Wells Fargo & Co., rose dramatically in 2009 in large part because of changes in how the bank pays compensation.
Stumpf's salary jumped to $5.6 million, compared with $878,920 in 2008, according to a preliminary regulatory filing made late Wednesday.
Stumpf is Wells Fargo's chairman, chief executive and president. Bank officials said that the base-salary breakout for Stumpf was $900,000 in cash and $4.7 million in stock.
Wells Fargo said in a Feb. 26 regulatory filing that Stumpf's base salary in 2010 will be $2.8 million, representing all cash and no stock.
Stumpf also received nearly $13.1 million in restricted stock awards and $18.7 million in overall compensation, which put him among the nation's highest-paid bank executives.
For the second consecutive year, four of the top five executives at Wells Fargo didn't receive nonequity compensation from its incentive plan. Stumpf got $4.2 million in 2007
Wells Fargo's performance in 2009 included posting about $8 billion in profits as it began integrating Wachovia Corp. and benefiting from Wachovia's market share in the Southeast. Its share price has rebounded from $8.61 on March 2, 2009, to $28.43 at the close of trading yesterday.
The stock awards to four executives were aimed as incentive for them to remain with Wells Fargo.
The bank announced the stock-award plan on Dec. 31, a week after it had repaid $25 billion it received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. That program placed restrictions on executive pay. The shares would be forfeited if the executives leave Wells Fargo for a competitor. The shares vest after three years if the bank meets certain performance goals.
Tony Plath, a finance professor at UNC Charlotte, said that Stumpf and the other executives "owe a big thank you" to the poor management of Wachovia and its collapse in 2008 for both elevating their compensation and making them more irreplaceable.
"So far, it looks to me like Wachovia's done more for Wells Fargo than Wells Fargo's done for Wachovia," Plath said. "If only the bank had made it through that fateful week in September 2008 with a little bit of taxpayer assistance."
The total compensation package for Stumpf was listed at $21.3 million in the company's summary compensation table, up from $8.8 million in 2009. The 2009 amount includes nearly $2.6 million in pension benefits that typically aren't included in calculating annual compensation.
Stumpf received $72,786 in all other compensation, including a $27,000 relocation benefit for moving to San Francisco and $18,895 for such perks as financial planning, a home-security system, and access to a car and part-time driver.
Howard Atkins, the bank's chief financial officer, received $3.3 million in salary, up from $598,767 in 2008, and $6.8 million in stock awards. David Carroll, the head of wealth-management, brokerage and retirement services, received $700,000 in salary and $10.9 million in nonequity incentive compensation. Carroll joined Wells Fargo as part of the takeover of Wachovia Corp.
David Hoyt, the head of wholesale banking, and Mark Oman, the head of home and consumer finance, each received nearly $3.9 million in salary, up from $598,767 in 2008, and $7.1 million in stock awards.
For 2010, the bank said that Hoyt and Oman will get $2 million in cash for salary, while Atkins will get $1.7 million and Carroll $1.5 million.
The bank said it will hold its annual shareholders meeting on April 27 in San Francisco.
Among the items on the agenda are shareholder proposals regarding: executive and board of director compensation; performance-based compensation; a requirement to have an independent chairman; and requirements to have a report on the bank's charitable and political contributions.
rcraver@wsjournal.com
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