Citi approves 22% pay hike for CEO Jane Fraser to $42 million

Citigroup has approved a 22% increase in Chief Executive Jane Fraser’s total compensation for 2025, lifting her pay package to $42 million after a year of strong stock performance and record revenues.

The details were disclosed in a regulatory filing on Thursday and first reported by Reuters. Fraser received $34.5 million in total compensation for 2024.

The bank said the package includes $1.5 million in base salary, $6.075 million in cash incentives and the remainder in deferred incentives.

In explaining the award, Citigroup pointed to record revenues across its core businesses, progress in resolving regulatory issues and pay benchmarks at comparable financial institutions.

Investors have backed Fraser’s multi-year restructuring strategy, which has focused on simplifying management layers, cutting jobs and divesting non-core businesses. Citi’s shares rose 65.8% last year, significantly outperforming rival banks and a broader index tracking US bank stocks.

The pay increase follows similar compensation bumps for chief executives at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, as Wall Street firms prepare for what many expect to be a revival in dealmaking activity.

According to Reuters, Citi executives have recently expressed growing optimism that the bank will soon complete compliance work tied to major regulatory consent orders. The eventual lifting of those restrictions would mark a turning point after six years of intensive remediation efforts involving thousands of staff.

Fraser, who took over in 2021 as the first woman to lead a major Wall Street bank, has framed the overhaul as essential to restoring profitability and investor confidence.

With regulatory overhangs easing and investment banking activity forecast to rebound, the focus now shifts to whether Citi can translate restructuring gains into sustained profit growth.

For shareholders, the pay award reflects confidence that Fraser’s turnaround plan is gaining traction — though its durability will depend on execution in a more competitive and uncertain dealmaking cycle.