The female JPMorgan banker whose cash bonus is twice as big as Jamie Dimon's
When you're Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, there are strings attached to your $39m pay package: you have to wait to get it and the bank has to perform.
JPMorgan's latest proxy statement, released yesterday, revealed that $32.5m of Dimon's $39m compensation comes in the form of performance share units, which are deferred for five years. These performance shares are also "at risk" and depend upon JPMorgan's return on tangible common equity (ROTCE) between years one to three following their award.
If JPMorgan's ROTCE exceeds 18% during this period, Dimon will receive 150% of his $32.5m PSU award in five years' time. If JPMorgan's ROTCE is between 6% and 18% in years one to three, then Dimon will receive 0-150% of his award, depending upon where JPMorgan's ROTCE ranks relative to rivals'. But if JPMorgan's ROTCE is less than 6% in the critical period, Dimon will receive nothing at all for his PSUs once 2030 comes around.
Jamie Dimon's pay is therefore complicated. Unless JPMorgan's ROTCE drops dramatically this year and in 2026 and 2027, it will, however, probably be worth something. (Dimon is fortunate that he doesn't work for Citi, where the ROTCE was an ominously low 6.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024, and where he'd therefore be at risk of receiving nothing for his PSUs at all.)
While Jamie has to be patient and to perform, one of his senior female colleagues at JPMorgan seems to have a far easier time. Mary Callahan Erdoes, the CEO of JPMorgan's asset and wealth management business, was the second highest paid of JPMorgan's senior executives last year (excluding Daniel Pinto, who's retiring after earning $32m.) Her pay has far fewer strings attached.
Callahan Erdoes was paid $28.5m for 2024 according to the proxy statement. That comprised a $11m cash bonus - more than twice as big as Dimon's $5m cash award. She also got $8.3m of restricted stock units which vest in two and three years irrespective of the ROTCE and how well the bank performs.
By the end of 2027, Callahan Erdoes will therefore definitely have banked $19.3m of bonuses for 2024. Dimon, however, will still only have his $5m cash. Even then, he will have to wait another two years for his $32.5m of PSUs, presuming they're still worth something by then.
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