Capital One pays CEO Fairbank $40M for 2025

Dive Brief:

Capital One’s board has approved $40 million in compensation for CEO Richard Fairbank in 2025, the McLean, Virginia-based bank disclosed Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The pay package represents an approximately 19% raise over the $33.5 million Fairbank received for 2024.
In June 2025, the board’s compensation committee voted to give Fairbank a one-time award worth roughly $30 million in connection with Capital One’s acquisition of Discover. That was nearly equal to the CEO’s compensation for 2024, when he received slightly more than $33.5 million.

Dive Insight:

Fairbank’s compensation package breaks down to a $2.5 million restricted stock units award and a year-end incentive award totaling $37.5 million.

The latter is made up of $24.8 million in performance shares; a $6.7 million deferred cash bonus, set to pay out in the first quarter of 2029; and $6 million in cash-settled restricted stock units, which will vest in full in February 2029, according to the filing.

Capital One’s board also approved the structure for Fairbank’s 2026 compensation, with share awards tied to the $669 billion-asset bank’s performance.

Fairbank, who co-founded the company in 1987, also has a chance to receive a year-end incentive award in early 2027 based on the bank’s 2026 performance and his contributions to it, the filing said.

Additionally, Capital One’s board adopted a policy establishing that the bank won’t enter into any new employment, severance or separation agreement with a named executive officer that provides for cash severance benefits exceeding 2.99 times the executive’s base salary plus target bonus, unless shareholders approve such an agreement. That policy takes effect March 1.

The $40 million total has Fairbank keeping pace with CEOs of the largest U.S. banks. In January, JPMorgan Chase approved a 10.3% raise to $43 million for CEO Jamie Dimon; Wells Fargo OKed a 28.2% boost to $40 million for CEO Charlie Scharf; and Goldman Sachs approved a 20.5% raise to $47 million for CEO David Solomon.