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Bank bosses enjoyed pay hikes in 2023, while rank-and-file workers were handed another year of stingy bonuses, according to this week’s round of earnings.

Nowhere was that more evident than at Standard Chartered, whose chief executive officer Bill Winters saw his pay package rise 22%, according to Bloomberg, citing the London-based bank’s 2023 earnings report released Friday.

Winter’s total compensation surged to roughly $9.9 million last year — a jump from $8.1 million in 2022 –despite Standard Chartered’s overall bonus pool falling 1%, to $1.57 billion, in 2023, Bloomberg reported.

The disparity between the board room and the cubicles was even worse among Wall Street’s major lenders.

Citibank chief Jane Fraser received a 6% pay bump, to $26 million, while its bonus pool tumbled about 20% in 2023, according to Financial News London.

A lot of people thought wed be at least flat on last year, an unnamed senior dealmaker at the firm told the outlet. People were shocked.

Fraser’s payout came as Citi’s profits plummeted 38% year-over-year at the bank in 2023.

Fraser implemented a sweeping overhaul intended to consolidate departments last November, with the goal of trimming the bank’s global headcount from 239,000 to 180,000.

Last month, Citi said that 20,000 staffers can expect to be handed a pink slip over the next two years after the bank reported its worst fourth-quarter earnings in 15 years.

Still, the bank’s board said that Frasers compensation increase was justified because of her execution of the most consequential set of changes to its organizational and management model since the 2008 financial crisis and the sale of international businesses.

Among peers on Wall Street, Morgan Stanleys former CEO  James Gorman got a pay bump of 17% in his final year heading up t he bank — which also slashed the size of its bonus pool.

Morgan Stanley’s rank-and-file received payouts that were slashed by as much as 15% from 2022 to 2023, Financial News reported.

Gorman is set to officially retire come May, ending his nearly two-decade tenure at Morgan Stanley, which reported a hit to its 2023 fiscal year earnings when it said profits plunged 32% year-over-year, to $1.5 billion.

Goldman Sachs CEO  David Solomon was another bank boss to get a pay bump despite lagging profits.

Solomon’s pay rose 24%, even though the firm posted a 24% decline in net profit last year as Goldman suffered from a slowdown in investment banking activity that led to thousands of job cuts.

Sources told The Post earlier this month that compensation at the firm was up $350 million from last year,” and a spokesperson for Goldman has insisted that its “compensation philosophy hasnt changed, were always focused on investing in our people, especially our top performers.

Despite reports on Financial News that Goldman bankers saw as much as a 10% raise in 2023, sources confirmed that employees may have received more or less than that depending on their performance.

JPMorgan Chase CEO  Jamie Dimons compensation also climbed 4.3% following a year of record profits for America’s largest lender.

The firm posted an impressive $49.6 billion in profits in 2023 — the most ever in US banking history.

As a result, compensation and morale remained relatively stable among the rank and file, sources told The Post.

One employee even went so far as to call his bonus awesome. 

HSBC CEO Noel Quinn saw his pay roughly double last year, from $7 million to $13.4 million, despite the widespread recession fears, stubbornly high inflation, layoffs, and cost cuts that defined the finance sector in 2023.

HSBC on Wednesday reported that its bonus pool also saw a 12% rise in 2023 — defying a trend of lackluster bonuses across the banking sector, per Bloomberg — as the UK lender enjoyed record profits on the heels of elevated interest rates.

Two banking chiefs didn’t have as much to celebrate: Bank of Americas Brian Moynihan saw his pay fall 3%, to $29 million.

In addition, Barclays’ CS Venkatakrishnan was also an outlier.

He saw his annual bonus slashed by 27%, according to Bloomberg, after the London-based firm reduced its bonus pool by 3% as a result of a 15% dip in profits attributed to reduced activity in its investment banking division.

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Amazon tops 100 satellites after weather-delayed Kuiper launch

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Amazon tops 100 satellites after weather-delayed Kuiper launch

After four previous scrubs or delays in a row since August 7th SpaceX launches Amazon KF-02 Kuipeer Satellites after the 5th attempt August 11th 2025 at 8:35 AM SLC-40 Cape Canaveral, Brevard County, Florida USA.

Scott Schilke| SipaUSA |AP

Amazon shipped another batch of internet-beaming satellites into orbit on Monday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, after four previous launch attempts were interrupted by weather issues.

Monday’s launch is the fourth Kuiper mission, and Amazon now has 102 satellites in orbit.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 8:35 a.m. ET. Roughly an hour after launch, SpaceX confirmed all 24 of Amazon’s Kuiper satellites were successfully deployed.

The mission was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but SpaceX was forced to scrub the launch, along with three more attempts over the past few days due to rainfall.

For the second time, Amazon turned to Elon Musk‘s SpaceX, its chief competitor in the low-earth orbit satellite market, for help building out its constellation.

Read more CNBC tech news

SpaceX’s Starlink is currently the dominant provider of low-earth orbit satellite internet, with a constellation of roughly 8,000 satellites and about 5 million customers worldwide.

Amazon is racing to get more of its Kuiper satellites into space to meet a deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC requires that Amazon have about 1,600 satellites in orbit by the end of July 2026, with the full 3,236-satellite constellation launched by July 2029.

Amazon has booked up to 83 launches, including three rides with SpaceX.

While the company is still in the early stages of building out its constellation, Amazon has already inked deals with governments as it hopes to begin commercial service later this year.

WATCH: Amazon launches first Kuiper internet satellites into space

Amazon launches first Kuiper internet satellites into space

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Ford’s new Universal EV Platform is a game changer

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Ford's new Universal EV Platform is a game changer

Ford claims its new midsize EV pickup will have a lower cost of ownership than a Tesla Model Y and more space than a Toyota RAV4. Starting at $30,000, it will also cost about the same as the RAV4. Here’s how the new Ford EV Universal Platform will make it happen.

Ford reveals new affordable Universal EV platform

Ford’s big bet is about to pay off. The company is preparing to launch a family of affordable electric vehicles based on the new Ford Universal EV Platform.

The first vehicle based on the platform will be the promised midsize four-door electric pickup. Ford’s new EV pickup will start at around $30,000 and will be assembled at its Louisville Assembly Plant.

Based on the new Ford Universal EV Platform, it will also have more passenger space than the latest Toyota RAV4.

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“We took a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable electric vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters – design, innovation, flexibility, space, driving pleasure, and cost of ownership,” Ford’s CEO Jim Farley said during the event in Kentucky.

According to Farley, Ford is done with the “good college tries” from other Detroit automakers to make affordable EVs, promising the company’s new platform will change the game by lowering costs and optimizing efficiency.

Ford-Universal-EV-platform
Ford introduces its new Universal EV Platform (Source: Ford)

Ford is the first automaker to build prismatic LFP batteries in the US, which will not only cut costs but also free up interior space.

Farley explained that the new platform reduces parts by 20% compared to the average vehicle. It also has 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer worstations dock-to-dock in the plant, and 15% faster assembly time.

Perhaps, most importantly, Ford’s leader explained that it will help reduce costs for owners. Farley claimed that the new Ford Universal EV platform will enable “lower cost of ownership over five years than a three-year-old used Tesla Model Y.”

Ford-Universal-EV-Platform
Ford Mustang Mach-E (left) and F-150 Lightning (right) (Source: Ford)

How so? For one, it’s significantly more efficient than the first-gen Ford EVs. The wiring harness alone in the new midsize truck will be 4,000 feet shorter and 10 kg lighter.

The LFP batteries lie flat under the floor, which improves handling, creates a quiet ride, and “provides a surprising amount of interior space,” Ford said. In fact, it will have more passenger room than the latest Toyota RAV4. And that’s not even including the added Frunk and truck bed.

Doug Field, Ford’s Chief EV, digital, and design officer, said the company took inspiration from the Model T to make it more than just a utility vehicle.

Ford promises that the new electric pickup will also be fun to drive, with a targeted 0 to 60 mph time as fast as the Mustang EcoBoost, and even more downforce.

The company will release additional information for the midsize electric pickup soon, including a reveal date, final prices, range, battery sizes, and charge times.

Ford said it’s aiming for a starting price of around $30,000, with customer deliveries set to begin in 2027. The company invested around $5 billion into its Louisville Assembly Complex, creating nearly 4,000 jobs to deliver its new EV pickup and LFP batteries.

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Sequoia’s Moritz backs Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan after Trump’s ‘artless bullying’

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Sequoia's Moritz backs Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan after Trump's 'artless bullying'

Michael Moritz, Sequoia Capital

Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Renowned venture capitalist Mike Moritz called on Intel to stand by CEO Lip-Bu Tan after President Donald Trump demanded his resignation last week.

“Trump’s assault has no modern precedent,” Moritz wrote, calling the attack a “vindictive political sideshow.”

Moritz, who spent decades at Sequoia Capital and has known Tan for nearly four decades, highlighted the CEO’s previous turnaround of Cadence Design Systems. Moritz said there is “no one better equipped to transform Intel’s fortunes.”

“Now the Intel board must decide whether to march to the beat of so many other corporate leaders and capitulate to the president’s artless bullying or to set an example for other companies and display some backbone,” he wrote in a piece published in the Financial Times Sunday. “Early signs of defiance are encouraging.”

Tan is set to visit the White House on Monday to assuage concerns about his background and discuss ways that Intel can work with the U.S. government.

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Intel shares were up nearly 5% Monday. The Wall Street Journal was first to report Tan’s White House visit.

In a post to Truth Social last week, Trump called for Tan’s resignation and said the 65-year-old was “highly CONFLICTED.” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. has also raised questions over Tan’s ties to Chinese companies and the potential national security risks.

Tan later addressed the “misinformation” in a letter to employees, saying that he has “always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards.”

Moritz joined Sequoia Capital in 1986 and stepped down in 2023. During his tenure, he made successful early bets on the likes of Google and PayPal.

WATCH: Market believes Intel -Trump turmoil will pass, says Intelligent Alpha CEO

Market believes Intel -Trump turmoil will pass, says Intelligent Alpha CEO

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