Goldman Chief Blankfein Took 4% Pay Cut for 2016--Update

By Liz Hoffman 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s board cut Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein's pay by 4% and tied more of it to how the bank does for its investors, a sign that even the powerful and profitable Wall Street firm isn't immune from investor pressure.

Mr. Blankfein received $22 million in total pay for 2016, according to a regulatory filing Friday. His cash bonus fell to $4 million from $6.3 million last year, while his salary remained the same at $2 million.

The Goldman CEO, who took the role more than a decade ago, joins Citigroup Inc.'s Michael Corbat as the only CEO of a big Wall Street firm to get a pay cut for 2016. Bank of America Corp.'s Brian Moynihan, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s James Dimon and Morgan Stanley's James Gorman all got raises. Mr. Gorman, whose firm is a fierce rival of Goldman, outearned Mr. Blankfein for the first time since he became Morgan Stanley CEO in 2010.

Goldman also tied more of Mr. Blankfein's pay to the bank's performance. All $16 million of his stock-based bonus is in the form of units that are awarded based on Goldman's returns over the next few years. In 2014 and 2015, only half of Mr. Blankfein's bonus hinged on future returns in this way. Before that, none did, though any stock-based bonus gets more valuable if the share price rises.

The changes come after just 66% of shareholders approved the bank's pay plan last year, an unusual rebuke. Goldman's directors "viewed this outcome as an indication that further engagement was needed" and spent the fall getting feedback from investors.

Shareholders, who generally like to see executives' fortunes tied to their own, also had pushed in the years following the financial crisis for banks to de-emphasize cash bonuses in favor of awards paid in company shares.

In another nod to shareholders, Goldman based its bonuses for 2016 on returns that will be judged relative to its banking peers, not on an absolute basis. That may actually bring higher payouts in the short term; Goldman has posted better returns on equity than most rivals in recent years, but has repeatedly fallen short of the 11% absolute figure needed for Mr. Blankfein and other top executives to receive their maximum bonus.

Goldman's revenue fell 9% in 2016, dragged down by a slow first half of the year. Many other top Goldman executives had pay cuts of around 5%, according to filings released in January.

Harvey Schwartz, who was recently promoted from chief financial officer to co-chief operating officer, was paid $20 million in 2016, down from $21 from a year earlier. Pay at the top of Goldman tends to be flatter than at some other big banks, with Mr. Blankfein's top deputies making almost as much as the CEO.

Write to Liz Hoffman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 17, 2017 14:39 ET (18:39 GMT)

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