Highest paid Deutsche Bank employee in line to earn nearly twice as much as CEO

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Deutsche Bank’s highest-paid employee could earn almost twice as much as chief executive Christian Sewing for 2024, as Germany’s largest lender boosted bonuses following a surge in investment banking profits.

The number of employees earning more than €1mn jumped 28 per cent to 647 in 2024, up from 505 the previous year. The rise was fuelled by a 78 per cent increase in pre-tax profits in the investment banking division, where variable performance-linked pay makes up a larger share of total pay.

The bank’s overall bonus pool increased 25 per cent to €2.5bn, the most since 2014, while total pay rose by just 8 per cent to €11.1bn, with headcount remaining stable.

Deutsche does not disclose the identity of its top earner, who is not on the board, but one individual was paid as much as €18mn last year, while in 2023, the highest earner had a salary range of €14mn to €15mn. Sewing is in line to earn €9.8mn, a 12 per cent increase on 2023.

The executive bonuses for board members set out in the bank’s annual report on Thursday are preliminary estimates because of changes to its pay structure. Final pay packages could be higher or lower depending on Deutsche’s future performance.

Since 2024, the bank has linked payouts to performance over the next three years rather than the past three. Sewing’s salary could therefore reach a maximum of €12mn.

The final 2024 payouts for board members will only be fully determined in 2026. If board members achieve 100 per cent of their targets, their combined long-term bonus would total €25.6mn, up from €19.8mn in 2023 when they reached 77.5 per cent of the target.

Short-term bonuses fell for most board members after they missed individual targets. The bonus for chief administrative officer Stefan Simon almost halved to €1mn, from €1.8mn the previous year, after the bank was hit by an unexpected €900mn litigation charge. This related to a long-running court case over the price it paid to shareholders when it bought retail lender Postbank more than a decade ago.

The bonus paid to outgoing chief risk officer Olivier Vigneron was also cut, by more than 20 per cent.

Deutsche warned investors twice last year that loan losses would be higher than originally expected and has clashed with the European Central Bank over its risk management.