Wells, Norwest Chiefs to Get Equal Pay

The top two executives of the soon-to-be merged Wells Fargo and Norwest banks will receive equal pay and bonuses, but exactly how much is still unclear.

In a proxy filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, the banks’ parent companies said Wells Fargo & Co. chief Paul Hazen, who will become chairman of the combined company’s board, will receive salary and bonuses equal to those of Norwest Corp. head Richard M. Kovacevich, who will be president and chief executive.

The combined company will keep the Wells Fargo name and its San Francisco headquarters. Shareholders will meet Oct. 20 in Minneapolis and San Francisco to vote on the $27-billion deal, in which Minneapolis-based Norwest exchanges 10 of its shares for each Wells share.

Last year Hazen, 56, was paid $2.85 million while Kovacevich, 54, was paid $3.47 million. Kovacevich was also given $1.6 million worth of stock plus options to buy 1.7 million shares.

In New York Stock Exchange trading, Norwest shares gained $1.44 to close at $32.31, while Wells shares rose $16.50 to $317.

In the first year of his five-year contract, Hazen is to receive 250,000 shares of the new company’s restricted stock and an option to buy an additional 500,000 shares. Hazen will get additional blocks of 125,000 shares in his second and third years, with options to buy 250,000 more shares each year.