The chief executives of the largest U.S. banks together raked in $258 million in compensation for 2025, after a strong economy and buoyant Wall Street propelled their businesses to record levels.
The CEOs of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo each earned $40 million or more last year, a collective increase of more than 21% from 2024.
Morgan Stanley’s Ted Pick and Wells Fargo’s Charlie Scharf saw the biggest pay bumps at 32% and 28%, respectively.
In 2025, the six banks brought in a total of nearly $600 billion in revenue, a 6% increase from a year earlier and more than any year prior. Profits across the banks rose 8%.
At JPMorgan, compensation for Jamie Dimon rose 10% to $43 million. The 69-year-old has overseen the expansion of the bank into the nation’s largest over his two decades as CEO. He hasn’t said when he plans to step down.
Much of the earnings lift industrywide came from a surge in dealmaking and trading volume, with the latter benefiting from market volatility sparked by President Trump’s tariffs and other geopolitical uncertainty. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley posted record annual revenues in their divisions that house these operations.
At Wells Fargo, Scharf has also moved to increase its Wall Street businesses since the Federal Reserve released the bank from a restriction that had capped its assets.
After a tumultuous start to 2025, corporate chieftains regained the confidence to pursue deals, resulting in the second-highest mergers volume on record in 2025. That fueled a rise in lending that helps make these deals happen. Companies are also borrowing at a record clip to pay for artificial intelligence and other infrastructure build-outs, turning to big banks and other sectors of Wall Street.
Households have also continued to spend and borrow, generating interest and fee charges for the big banks that cater to Main Street. In December, average hourly earnings in the U.S. were up 3.8% from a year earlier.
Big bank executives have made bullish forecasts for 2026.
Under Trump, banks have benefited from a looser regulatory stance toward deals, capital and oversight. Bankers are also hoping that 2026 could be the biggest year ever for IPOs, with rocket maker SpaceX, artificial-intelligence company Anthropic and others eyeing listings.
Still, bankers are warning of the possibility of challenges ahead.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said Tuesday he would expect a “speed bump or recalibration or slowdown” at some point this year, and flagged the U.S. midterm elections and “populist uncertainty” potentially introducing new risks.
Write to Gina Heeb at gina.heeb@wsj.com and AnnaMaria Andriotis at annamaria.andriotis@wsj.com