Wells Fargo’s board approved a 28% increase in total compensation for CEO Charlie Scharf, boosting his 2025 package to $40 million from $31.2 million in 2024. His base salary remains at $2.5 million, while the incentive award climbs to $37.5 million. This represents the largest single-year compensation for a Wells Fargo executive in decades. The board cited Scharf’s role in lifting the Federal Reserve’s asset cap, resolving multiple federal enforcement actions and restoring investor confidence as key drivers of the award.

Since Scharf’s appointment in late 2019, Wells Fargo has cleared longstanding regulatory hurdles. In 2023 the bank settled a $97 million penalty for sanctions violations, and last year the Fed lifted a three-year-old asset cap imposed after the 2016 fake-accounts scandal. In its latest quarterly filings, Wells Fargo reported a return on tangible common equity of 16.1% for 2025, up from 12.3% a year earlier, and reduced noninterest expense by $1.2 billion compared with the prior year.

Under Scharf’s leadership, Wells Fargo has expanded high-return businesses. Credit card account openings increased by 21%, reaching 3 million new accounts, and auto loan balances grew 19% year-over-year. The bank also hired 150 investment bankers to bolster its corporate and investment banking division, resulting in a 14% rise in advisory fees. Wealth management assets under administration climbed to $1.35 trillion, driven by strategic hires in private banking and fintech partnerships.