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 earned almost twice as much as chief executive Christian Sewing last year, 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 rise 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, 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, and just three other employees received more than €10mn.

Board member pay packages could yet be lower than those set out in Thursday’s annual report, following a change to Deutsche’s executive pay structure. 

The bank has shifted to a forward-looking model for long-term share-based incentives, linking payouts to performance over the next three years rather than the past three. This change aims to curb short-term profit-seeking.

As a result, 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. The bonus for chief administrative officer Stefan Simon almost halved to €1mn, from €1.8mn the previous year, after a €1.3bn provision for Deutsche’s long-running Postbank dispute, which rattled investors. The bank later settled most claims for €900mn after a court signalled it might rule in favour of the plaintiffs.

The short-term bonus paid to outgoing chief risk officer Olivier Vigneron was also cut, by more than 20 per cent, following two increases in loan loss provisions last year.