U.S. Bank's CEO took home $19.4M in 2021, $11M more than year before

Andrew Cecere

Chairman, president, CEO

U.S. Bancorp

Note: Cecere's total compensation had been steadily increasing as CEO until 2020 when the effects of the pandemic dampened U.S. Bancorp's financial performance and its share price. That year, his realized compensation decreased 40% to $8.2 million.

During 2021, the bank's results and its share price rebounded strongly and that helped drive Cecere's compensation for the year more than $11 million higher to $19.4 million — the highest amount since Cecere became CEO of the Minneapolis-based banking company in 2017.

Cecere's annual salary remained the same. His annual bonus, or non-equity incentive pay, largely tied to 2021's financial performance, increased by 133% to $4.5 million. U.S. Bancorp's adjusted earnings per share for the year were $4.10, well above the 2021 target of $3.14.

The biggest increase to Cecere's compensation during the year was from previously issued stock options that he exercised during the year for $5.1 million. He did not exercise any of those options in 2020, when the stock finished the year down 17%.

U.S. Bancorp awards both time-based restricted stock awards and performance-based restricted stock awards to company executives for staying with the company and for the company's return on equity performance over a three year period from 2019 to 2021. The performance-based restricted stock payout was 114% of the target for that period. For Cecere that was $8.5 million.