Goldman Raises CEO’s Stock Bonus 90% to $13.3 Million

(Corrects 2007 payout in third paragraph of story published Jan. 18.)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) boosted Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein’s stock bonus 90 percent to $13.3 million, topping JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s Jamie Dimon for the first time in five years, as profit climbed.

While the bank didn’t disclose Blankfein’s cash bonus, a person familiar with the payout said his total bonus was about 70 percent restricted stock and 30 percent cash, like last year. On that basis, the total would be about $19 million including $5.7 million in cash.

Pay for Blankfein, whose $67.9 million bonus for 2007 set a Wall Street record, has trailed Dimon’s since then as Goldman Sachs’s profitability lagged behind that of JPMorgan, which this week reported a third consecutive year of record profit. Dimon, 56, who leads the biggest U.S. bank by assets, had his compensation cut in half to $11.5 million because of a trading loss.

Blankfein, 58, got 94,320 restricted shares worth $13.3 million at the $141.01 closing price on Jan. 17, according to a filing from the New York-based bank. Last year, he was awarded $7 million in stock and $3 million in cash for 2011. Blankfein’s compensation also includes a $2 million salary.

Cohn, Viniar

Goldman Sachs’s revenue grew 19 percent in 2012, the first gain in three years, as the firm’s investments almost tripled in value and investment banking fees climbed. Blankfein also boosted profit by paring the portion of revenue paid to employees to 38 percent from 42 percent. The stock rose 41 percent in 2012, the first annual gain since doubling in 2009.

Goldman Sachs, the fifth-biggest U.S. bank, disclosed restricted-stock awards for 11 other senior executives in filings today. Cash bonuses aren’t scheduled to be disclosed until the firm files its proxy statement.

President Gary D. Cohn, 52, was awarded 85,136 restricted shares, worth $12 million at yesterday’s closing price. Cohn, who receives a $1.85 million salary, got $3 million in cash and $7 million of restricted stock last year.

Chief Financial Officer David A. Viniar, 57, who is retiring this month after 32 years at the firm and joining the board of directors, also was granted restricted shares worth $12 million. Viniar, who gets a $1.85 million salary, received the same bonus as Blankfein and Cohn last year.

James A. Johnson, the former Fannie Mae CEO who is the longest-serving member of Goldman Sachs’s board of directors, is chairman of the board’s compensation committee. Johnson was re- elected to the board last year over public opposition from shareholder Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb Inc.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in New York at charper@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net