Wall Street banks are paying their CEOs like it’s 2006 again

Published Sun, Feb 15, 2026 · 09:33 AM

AFTER years of restraint following the 2008 global financial crisis, Wall Street is handing CEOs a record payout.

Chief executive officers at the top US banks all received annual compensation of at least US$40 million, with their total pay surpassing records set in 2006 and 2021.

Bank of America Brian Moynihan was the latest CEO to have his pay disclosed, with his compensation rising 17 per cent last year to US$41 million.

Citigroup said this week that it boosted the pay of CEO Jane Fraser by 22 per cent to US$42 million for 2025, a sign of confidence from the board about her ability to turn the company around after years of underperforming its peers.

Banner year for banking industry

The payouts reflect a banner year for the banking industry, with the nation’s top financial firms posting their biggest annual earnings since 2021.

JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America boosted their overall bonus pools for their bankers and traders by at least 10 per cent, as the businesses benefited from a banner year in dealmaking and market activity.

“Pay-wise, CEOs had a great year,” said Alan Johnson, the managing director of compensation consultant Johnson Associates. “The banks had a great year, with minimal losses and great profits. I think they have managed themselves very well.”

Such outsized paychecks for bank CEOs have not been seen since before the financial crisis. In 2007, Goldman paid then-CEO Lloyd Blankfein US$68.5 million, a record paycheck at the time for a Wall Street chief.

That same year, mortgage losses drove Blankfein’s counterparts at Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns to forgo their year-end payouts.

Lehman Brothers paid CEO Richard Fuld US$40 million for 2007 after the underwriter of mortgage bonds posted record profit and limited subprime losses. The firm filed for bankruptcy the following year, with Fuld removed from his position without any severance or bonus.

At the time, executive pay came under scrutiny from members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, who questioned Wall Street executives about receiving hundreds of millions of dollars of compensation even as shareholders bore the brunt of write-downs from the subprime meltdown.

Different picture today

The industry looks much different today, with 2010’s Dodd-Frank regulations cutting big banks’ risk-taking to boost their stability and decrease the likelihood they’d need bailouts during economic downturns.

For 2025, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon received the highest pay among his cohort, at US$47 million, marking a 21 per cent increase from the prior year though still far less than predecessor Blankfein’s compensation almost two decades ago.

“There’s a link between pay and performance, and performance has improved and is likely to continue that improvement,” said Mike Mayo, the head of US large-cap bank research at Wells Fargo. “They all get paid a lot in stock, so that helps to align their interest with those of shareholders.”

The increased pay for Solomon and his rivals come amid an industrywide focus on compensation and other expenses as the rise of artificial intelligence spurs heightened concerns about spending on employees and emerging technology.

Executives at the big banks have found themselves batting down repeated questions about their own arc of expenses to chase revenue growth.

The CEOs’ salaries have been rising alongside profits, which have been driven by trading, lending and the return of dealmaking. Executive pay packages have faced some pushback from shareholders, but have generally passed without major opposition when voted upon.

Last year, Goldman won majority support for its pay proposal, even after retention bonuses of US$80 million each for Solomon and president John Waldron were criticised for being excessive.

The firm had argued that the payouts were needed to retain the executives as it competes with deep-pocketed private-market investors. BLOOMBERG