Deutsche Bank CEO Takes 90 Percent Pay Cut

Mar 25, 2009

Deutsche Bank AG announced that compensation for chief executive officer Josef Ackermann’s fell 90 percent during 2008 after the bank posted historic losses.

Ackermann earned $1.89 million last year compared with $18.8 million in 2007, the Frankfurt-based bank, Germany’s largest, stated in its annual report.

Ackerman stated in 2008 that he would decline performance related bonuses if Deutsche Bank could not avoid financial pitfalls related to the world economic crisis, according to the Associated Press.

Deutsche Bank posted its first annual loss in over 50 years during 2008, with $3.9 billion in total losses.

Although Ackermann said Deutsche Bank has had a good start to 2009, he acknowledged that the bank continued to face challenges.

"A global economic downturn affects all our client segments, and financial markets remain under pressure," Ackermann said, according to the AP. "Nevertheless, we are confident that Deutsche Bank is correctly positioned to weather these difficult conditions."

Deutsche Bank’s management board saw compensation drop from 44.7 million in 2007 to $5.9 last year.

Additionally the bank plans to cut bonuses at its investment banking unit by 60 percent during 2009, according to Bloomberg.

Ackerman said he expected Deutsche Bank to return to profitability by the end of 2009 if financial markets emerge from the global economic slump as some analysts have predicted.