Bank of America (BAC -1.07%) announced on Wednesday that its chief executive officer, Brian Moynihan, got a $2 million raise for fiscal year 2013.
The news comes on the heels of yet another positive development for the bank, as a judge in New York refused to throw out an $8.5 billion settlement that Bank of America entered into in 2011. The ruling means the Charlotte-based bank is one giant step closer to fully atoning for its sins from the financial crisis.
But does this progress mean Moynihan deserved a nearly 17% raise? Motley Fool contributor John Maxfield thinks so.
In the first place, he will still make considerably less than his counterparts at JPMorgan Chase (JPM 0.15%) and Goldman Sachs (GS -0.71%), whose CEOs took home $20 million and $23 million, respectively, in total compensation last year.
On top of this, he's overseen a dramatic improvement in Bank of America's fortunes by aggressively attacking expenses and putting billions of dollars in legal liability behind the financial behemoth. And finally, shares of Bank of America have outperformed effectively all of its rivals over the last few years, more than doubling since the start of 2012 alone.
As John discusses in the video below, these are the reasons Moynihan more than earned his keep in 2013.
