[Financial Essay] How Much Is the Salary of a Financial Holding Company Chairman?

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] How much is the annual salary of the chairman of a financial holding company that has banks, insurance companies, card companies, securities firms, and savings banks as affiliates? Their salaries, having risen from bank clerks to the top positions in financial companies, are truly staggering.

According to the 2019 business reports recently disclosed by each financial company on the 4th, Kim Jung-tae, chairman of Hana Financial Group, earned an annual salary of 2.497 billion KRW.

Chairman Kim received 800 million KRW as salary and 1.695 billion KRW as bonuses.

The person with the second highest salary is Yoon Jong-kyu, chairman of KB Financial Group. His total compensation was 1.595 billion KRW, consisting of 800 million KRW in salary and 795 million KRW in bonuses.

Cho Yong-byeong, chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, received 1.26 billion KRW, and Sohn Tae-seung, chairman of Woori Financial Group, received 762 million KRW.

Among bank presidents, Heo In, president of KB Kookmin Bank, earned 1.074 billion KRW, ranking first in annual salary. Jin Ok-dong, president of Shinhan Bank, received 631 million KRW last year, and Ji Sung-kyu, president of Hana Bank, received 550 million KRW.

Ham Young-joo, vice chairman of Hana Financial Group, earned 560 million KRW as vice chairman of the holding company last year and 1.386 billion KRW as the previous Hana Bank president, totaling 1.946 billion KRW in annual salary.

The average annual salary of bank employees also approached the billion KRW mark. Hana Bank had the highest average salary among major banks at 101 million KRW, followed by Kookmin Bank at 99 million KRW, and Shinhan and Woori Banks each at 91 million KRW.

Foreign banks such as Korea Citibank had an average salary of 107 million KRW, and SC First Bank had 87 million KRW.

The average salaries of regional banks were also competitive. Busan Bank, part of BNK Financial Group, had an average salary of 91 million KRW, and Gyeongnam Bank had 86 million KRW. Jeonbuk and Gwangju Banks, part of JB Financial Group, both had 86 million KRW.

Internet-only banks were not far behind. K Bank had 82 million KRW, and Kakao Bank had 71 million KRW.