Morgan Stanley chief’s pay falls 7 per cent despite profit jump as bank reduces bonuses
Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman received $27m (£20.75m) in total compensation for 2019, almost seven per cent less than the year before, according to a company filing on Friday.
It comes following a reduction in bonuses for staff across the business.
The board called Gorman’s performance “outstanding” and acknowledged the firm’s “strong financial performance”.
Profits were up 46 per cent last year to $2.09bn compared with 2018.
The board, which decides top executives pay, opted against a pay rise for the 61-year-old, after recently disclosing it would cut staff and discretionary compensation as it aimed to reduce expenses.
The bank said on Thursday in its fourth-quarter earnings that it was lowering bonuses in order to offset a seven per cent increase in other compensation expenses.
Morgan Stanley also revealed it had paid $172m in severance packages to employees who had been let go. In December, it said it would cut around 1,500 jobs.
Gorman’s compensation includes a $1.5m base salary, $6.375m bonus, $6.375m deferred equity award and a $12.75m performance-vested equity award.
The board required that 75 per cent of Gorman’s incentive compensation be deferred over three years subject to a claw-back, and for all of that compensation to be paid in the form of equity in the company.