18/05/2022 17:25
The maxi bonus to Jamie Dimon, historic CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co, ended up in the crosshairs of the shareholders of the largest US bank who rejected the approval of the special prize of 52.6 million dollars in stock options that the directors of JP Morgan they assigned Dimon last year to stay in office for at least another five years.
No members to the super bonus
In a consultative referendum on remunerationoni, only 31% of the votes cast approved JPMorgan executive payments for 2021. Regarding this year’s special award, two major consulting firms, from which investors take their cue for the vote, had recommended the “No” to pay. In detail, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc and Glass Lewis & Co criticized the award envisaged for Jamie Dimon as lacking performance criteria for accrual.
In eight of the past 12 years, JPMorgan had won the approval of more than 90% of the votes cast in annual compensation voting. In eight of the last twelve years, the largest American banking institution had seen top compensation backed by as much as 90% of the votes.
The vote is advisory only and it is expected that the top executive will keep the expected pay but it is still an unusual reprimand to Jamie Dimon who will keep the award, but these votes are very popular as they test the attitude of the investors towards the salaries of the executives and what payments are willing to tolerate. Dimon, who already boasts a billionaire personal fortune, received a total of 84.4 million in compensation for 2021, including the award of 52.6 million and 25 million in shares, 5 million in bonuses and a base salary of 1.5. millions. In response to the vote, JPMorgan executives stressed through a spokesperson that the special award was extremely rare and the first for Dimon in more than a decade. Prior to the vote, the directors said the special award would be non-recurring and “reflects the board’s desire that Dimon continue to lead the company for another significant number of years.”
Prior to the vote, the Board said it had awarded the award in consideration of Dimon’s performance, leadership since 2005 and “management succession planning in a highly competitive landscape for executive leadership talent”.