Does the Wells Fargo Board Reward Managers for Misconduct?
March 14, 2019
Does the Wells Fargo Board Reward Managers for Misconduct?
Statement of Bartlett Naylor, Financial Policy Advocate, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division
Note: Today, Wells Fargo disclosed that it paid CEO Tim Sloan $18.4 million in 2018, a 5 percent raise, which included a $2 million incentive award. Board directors, who are not full-time employees, are paid between $350,000 and $630,000. During the course of the year, Wells Fargo’s stock fell 27 percent.
After signing 14 consent decrees with regulators and presiding over a 27 percent decline in its stock price, Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan faced the music: He received a 5 percent pay raise to $18.4 million. That works out to about $9,000 an hour, meaning he makes in half a day what Wells Fargo tellers earn in a year. The fact that his board directors also pay themselves lavish salaries explains how they can reward misconduct.
Wells Fargo can’t fix itself. Washington must break it up.
###