Wells Fargo hiked its pay for CEO Charlie Scharf to $40 million – a roughly 28% jump – in 2025 as he helped the bank turn the page on several federal penalties and billions of dollars in fines.
The top exec made $2.5 million in base salary and $37.5 million as a bonus – the highest pay for a Wells Fargo employee in decades, according to a Thursday filing earlier reported by Bloomberg.
That was up from a salary of $2.5 million and a bonus of $28.7 million in 2024, or $31.2 million total.
He now ranks among the highest paid bank leaders, alongside JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who earned $43 million, and Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon, $47 million.
Scharf – who took the helm in 2019 – was awarded a one-time, $30 million multi-year stock award in July as the bank’s board appointed him chairman and praised his leadership in helping Wells Fargo emerge from regulatory constraints.
Over several years starting in 2018, it was hit with multiple federal penalties for mismanagement, including creation of fake customer accounts, mishandling of mortgages and errors in auto lending.
Most recently, in 2023, it was fined $97 million for violating US sanctions.
Last year, in a major win for Scharf, the Federal Reserve removed an asset cap that it placed on the bank following the scandals.
In this week’s pay filing, the bank’s board nodded to Scharf’s leadership in reaching key regulatory goals, as well as improving financial performance in 2025.
The exec has also focused on growth with targeted hires and investments, building out the investment banking group and prioritizing credit cards and wealth management.
Wells Fargo credit card openings rose 21% from the previous year, to 3 million, and auto loan balances jumped 19%, according to the bank.
