UBS released its annual report on Monday, with executive compensation being the most debated section. The remuneration for CEO Sergio Ermotti, in particular, has drawn attention.

Regardless of how well the CEO of the combined banking giant performs and wins over clients, public sentiment shifts each spring when his salary is disclosed. This year is no exception.

According to Monday’s report, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti received a total compensation of 14.9 million francs last year. His salary consists of a fixed base salary of 2.8 million francs, with variable components amounting to 12.1 million francs.

Novartis CEO Earns Even More

For comparison, Ermotti earned 14.4 million francs in the previous year, though that covered only nine months. Despite being among Switzerland’s top executives, he is not the highest-paid. Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan received 19.2 million francs, while Sunrise CEO André Krause earned 15.4 million francs.

UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher received a fixed fee of 5.5 million francs in 2024, comprising a cash payment of 2.75 million francs and an equity component of 90,675 UBS shares valued at 30.328 francs per share.

This year, multimillion-dollar salaries are expected to spark even more debate following a recent decision by the Swiss Council of States. Last week, the chamber narrowly passed a motion (21 to 19 votes) to cap executive compensation in the banking sector at 5 million francs per person.

Colm Kelleher’s Regret

Last September, UBS Chairman Kelleher defended Ermotti’s multimillion-dollar salary in a newspaper interview. «Relatively speaking, we paid Sergio Ermotti only 10 percent more than his predecessor, despite him taking on a much more challenging task, which he has handled exceptionally well. Would it have been fair to pay him the same? I don’t think so,» he told SonntagsBlick.

Kelleher added that Ermotti works «seven days a week, around the clock, to turn around the completely disastrous situation we inherited in March 2023.» Looking back, Kelleher admitted that he may have «underestimated how parts of the public would react to this level of compensation.»