Citi Increases CEO's Salary by 33% for Jane Fraser
In a significant move, Citi, one of the world's leading global banks, accelerated its investments in modernizing its tech infrastructure in 2024, as announced by CEO Jane Fraser. This comprehensive approach to technology modernization is part of Citi's broader strategic focus on risk reduction, disciplined execution, and capturing growth opportunities in key business lines.
The bank's tech modernization efforts involve a robust transformation strategy with measurable progress. Significant investments are being made to streamline processes, platforms, and drive automation, reducing manual touch points across the enterprise. AI tools are being actively deployed to enhance data quality and operational efficiency, indicating a commitment to advanced technology integration.
The data plan to improve data management and analytics remains on track, supporting transformative objectives toward a more agile technology infrastructure. Many transformation programs are at or near the target state, showing meaningful progress, while remaining areas show good advancement. As this modernization progresses, the bank expects transformation-related expenses to start decreasing next year, implying that earlier investments are reaching maturity and generating efficiencies.
Beyond transformation, Citi continues to invest in platform and product enhancements to improve competitiveness and win or deepen client relationships.
This news comes amidst other significant changes at Citi. Jane Fraser oversaw a wide-scale reorganization that flattened the bank's management model and enhanced leadership accountability. Tim Ryan, former PricewaterhouseCoopers senior partner, was hired to lead the bank's technology and legacy franchise efforts, while Vis Raghavan was appointed to oversee its investment, corporate, and commercial banking businesses.
In terms of leadership compensation, Jane Fraser's 2024 compensation represents a 32.7% raise over her 2023 compensation of $26 million. Her compensation breakdown includes a $1.5 million base salary, a $4.95 million cash incentive, $11.55 million in deferred stock, and $16.5 million based on Citi's tangible book value per share and return on tangible common equity. As a result, she is now the fourth highest-paid CEO among the six largest U.S.-based systemically important financial institutions, surpassing Ted Pick of Morgan Stanley and Charlie Scharf of Wells Fargo.
However, it's important to note that all six CEOs of the largest U.S. systemically important financial institutions received more than $30 million in compensation in 2024. David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, saw a 25.8% pay increase to reach $39 million, while Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, received an 8.3% pay boost to reach the same $39 million total.
The year also saw regulatory challenges for Citi, with $135.6 million in new penalties issued against the bank. Despite these challenges, Citi aims to reduce its workforce by 20,000 employees by 2026, having already cut 7,000 in the first seven months.
In another significant move, Citi separated its institutional banking operations in Mexico from Banamex in 2024, setting up an initial public offering for Banamex this year.
This article provides an overview of Citi's tech modernization efforts, leadership changes, and financial landscape in 2024. For more detailed information, readers are encouraged to refer to the bank's 2024/2025 compensation disclosures and recent communications.
The tech modernization efforts at Citi, led by CEO Jane Fraser, encompass a strategic focus on integrating advanced technology like AI, aiming to streamline processes, improve data management, and enhance operational efficiency – all key aspects of business transformation. Beyond technology, the bank continues to invest in leadership, hiring Tim Ryan to lead tech and legacy efforts, and Vis Raghavan to oversee investment, corporate, and commercial banking business – showcasing a commitment to leadership and business growth.
