CEO Vikram Pandit has had a salary of just $1 for the past two years, and Citi’s board on Friday said that they would raise his compensation.
The fact that they will be paying Pandit closer to a CEO’s salary is a sign that they are starting to become profitable again.
Pandit in February 2009, during the height of the economic crisis, said he would take the $1 salary until Citi becomes profitable. The bank has received substantial bailouts from the federal government, and the US Treasury owns around 18 percent of the company’s stock.
“The Board is very pleased with the progress that the management team is making in restoring Citi to profitability,” said Citigroup Chairman Richard D. Parsons in a statement.
“Although we respect Vikram’s decision again to decline salary or an incentive award for 2010, we believe that his performance would merit a different outcome.”
The firm turned a profit for the first and second quarters of this year but Pandit still declined to take more than $1 for 2010.
“Beginning in 2011, the Board intends to compensate Vikram commensurate with the job of CEO of Citi,” Parsons added.
Many other senior executives at the company have had their salaries increased. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday, one executive is set to receive $9 million this year.
