Wells Fargo Awards Stock Bonuses Worth $25 Million to Top Executives

Chief Executive Office John Stumpf was given 379,600 shares, which will bring him $10 million at today’s share price. The other top three executives at the company, Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins, home and consumer finance head Mark Oman and wholesale banking head Dave Hoyt were all given 189,800 shares, which totaled close to $5 million each in value.

The awarding of the shares came with the stipulation there would have to be certain performance goals met after a three-year period before the shares would be vested, along with the forfeiture of the shares if any of the executives left during that time to work for the competition. The execs would also have to hold a number of the shares while they worked for the company, said Wells Fargo in a statement.

Chair Steve Sanger, of the Human Resource Committee of Wells board of directors, said the reason for giving the shares to the company leaders was to give them incentive to remain at the bank while they continue to work to integrate Wachovia into the company after acquiring them. The company also seeks continuity in leadership while they navigate through the ongoing recession.