JPMorgan buyers hand Jamie Dimon an extraordinary rebuke with disapproval of $52.6 million bonus

JP Morgan Chase & Co. Chairman & Leader Government Officer Jamie Dimon testifies earlier than the Space Monetary Products and services Committee on responsibility for megabanks within the Rayburn Space Administrative center Construction on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on April 10, 2019.

Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Pictures

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was once passed an extraordinary rebuke on Tuesday with the shareholder disapproval of his large retention bonus introduced via the financial institution final 12 months.

Simply 31% of buyers collaborating within the New York-based financial institution’s annual shareholder assembly supported the $52.6 million award that was once a part of Dimon’s 2021 repayment package deal.

The bonus, within the type of 1.5 million choices that Dimon can workout in 2026, was once designed to stay the CEO and chairman on the helm of JPMorgan for any other 5 years. Its estimated worth, pegged final 12 months, fluctuates and relies at the financial institution’s proportion worth appreciation, in line with financial institution spokesman Joe Evangelisti.

“The particular award was once extraordinarily uncommon — the primary in additional than a decade for Mr. Dimon — and it mirrored exemplary management and extra incentive for a a hit management transition,” Evangelisti mentioned.

Whilst the result of the so-called “say on pay” vote are nonbinding, JPMorgan’s board mentioned it takes investor comments “critically” and meant Dimon’s bonus to be a one-time tournament, he added.

The disapproval was once the primary time JPMorgan’s board suffered a down vote on repayment because the pay-watch measures had been presented greater than a decade in the past. Dimon, 66, has led JPMorgan since 2006, serving to information it thru a number of crises and construction it into the largest U.S. financial institution via property.

Previous this month, proxy advisory corporations together with Glass, Lewis & Co. really useful that shareholders vote towards the pay package deal of Dimon and his best lieutenant, Daniel Pinto. Together with the retention bonus, Dimon’s pay final 12 months was once valued at $84.4 million.

“Over the top one-off grants to the CEO and COO amid tepid relative efficiency irritate long-standing considerations in regards to the corporate’s executive-pay program,” Glass Lewis mentioned in its document.

Dimon and his different administrators won beef up differently from buyers, which is extra standard of a shareholder vote at a big corporate.

Glass Lewis had additionally steered that shareholders vote towards the repayment of rival CEO David Solomon, who leads Goldman Sachs and was once awarded a $30 million retention bonus in October. If so, then again, about 82% of Goldman’s shareholders voted in choose of control.