JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s total pay in the year of COVID-19 was the most since the 2008 financial crisis
Another crisis and another good year for Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., who was paid the most during the year of COVID-19 since 2008.
In the 2020 proxy statement filed late Wednesday, the banking giant said Dimon’s total compensation for 2020 was $31.66 million, up from $31.61 million in 2019.
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The total comp included a base salary of $1.50 million and a bonus of $5.00 million, both the same as 2019, while the value of stock awards rose to $25.00 million from $24.50 million.
Also included in total compensation, the change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings slipped to $21,845 from $34,370, and “all other compensation” declined to $142,709 from $578,246.
For Dimon, all other compensation includes costs for his spouse to attend business-related events, in which his spouse’s attendance is expected or customary. It also includes $35,714 for the personal use of corporate aircraft, $38,900 for the personal use of corporate cars and $62,317 for the cost of security.
Dimon’s 2020 compensation was the most since the financial crisis of 2008, when his total comp was $35.76 million. Granted, in 2009, Dimon’s total comp fell to a low of $1.32 million, as his bonus and value of stock and option awards dropped to zero.
The proxy statement also disclosed that the estimated median pay of JPMorgan Chase employees was $80,102 in 2020, meaning the CEO pay ratio was 395 to 1.
That compares with median employee income of $80,431 in 2019, representing a CEO pay ratio of 393 to 1, and median employee income of $78,923 in 2018 for a CEO pay ratio of 381 to 1.
As the CEO pay ratio continued to climb, Dimon had published his annual letter to shareholders earlier in the day, in which he stressed the U.S. needed to acknowledge problems that have led to the widening wealth gap.
Dimon also addressed racial inequality in his letter, then hours later the bank’s board urged shareholders to vote against a proposal for a racial-equity audit.
JPMorgan Chase’s stock, which slipped 0.2% in midday trading Thursday, has rallied 21.7% year to date, while the financial ETF has advanced 17.7% this year and the Dow has tacked on 9.2%.
