Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co. Jamie Diman is testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Megabanks in the Rayburn House office building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 10, 2019.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Diman received a rare reprimand on Tuesday when shareholders did not approve his big retention bonus announced by the bank last year.
Only 31% of investors who participated in the annual meeting of shareholders of the New York Bank, supported the award of $ 52.6 million, which was part of the compensation package Dimon for 2021.
The bonus of 1.5 million options that Diamond can implement in 2026 has been designed to keep the CEO and chairman at the helm of JPMorgan for another five years. Its estimated value, tied to last year, fluctuates and depends on the increase in the value of the bank’s shares, according to bank spokesman Joe Evangelista.
“The special award was extremely rare – the first in more than a decade for Mr. Diamond – and it reflected exemplary leadership and additional impetus for a successful leadership transition,” the evangelist said.
Although the results of the so-called “tell about payment” vote are not mandatory, JPMorgan’s board said it takes investor feedback “seriously” and believes the Daimon bonus will be one-time, he added.
This disapproval was the first time the JPMorgan board has suffered from a vote against compensation since wage measures were introduced more than a decade ago. The 66-year-old Diman has led JPMorgan since 2006, helping to overcome several crises and turning it into the largest U.S. bank by assets.
Earlier this month, consulting firms, including Glass, Lewis & Co., advised shareholders to vote against the salary package of Diamond and his senior lieutenant Daniel Pinto. Taking into account the preservation bonus, Dimon’s salary last year was estimated at $ 84.4 million.
“Excessive one-off subsidies to the CEO and CEO amid low relative performance exacerbate long-standing concerns about the company executives’ payroll program, ”Glass Lewis said in his report.
Dimon and his other directors have received support from investors, which is more typical of a major company’s shareholder vote.
Voice Lewis also urged shareholders to vote against the compensation of rival CEO David Solomon, who heads Goldman Sachs and received a $ 30 million retention bonus in October. However, in this case, about 82% of Goldman shareholders voted for the leadership.
