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Piyush Gupta’s 2024 Pay Rises to $17.58 Million

Outgoing DBS CEO Piyush Gupta received a total remuneration of $17.58 million for 2024, an increase from his 2023 earnings, according to the bank’s annual report released on March 6.

DBS Achieves Record Performance in 2024

DBS posted an 11% increase in full-year net profit, reaching $11.4 billion. The return on equity (ROE) stood at 18%, marking a record-breaking performance.

Factors Behind Gupta’s Higher Remuneration

The bank attributed Gupta’s increased pay to improved technology resilience and a higher scorecard appraisal. His 2023 pay had been cut by 27% to $11.2 million as senior management took responsibility for digital disruptions.

Breakdown of Gupta’s 2024 Pay Package

His 2024 earnings consisted of:

• $9.36 million in deferred awards, primarily in shares
• $6.65 million in cash bonuses
• $1.5 million base salary
• $80,533 in other benefits, including club, car, and driver allowances

DBS Plans to Cut 4,000 Jobs Due to AI

In February, Gupta announced that DBS would reduce its contract and temporary workforce by 4,000 over the next three years due to AI-driven automation.

Gupta Reflects on His DBS Career

As he prepares to retire in less than a month, Gupta described his 15-year tenure at DBS as the most fulfilling phase of his career. He highlighted the bank’s transformation since he joined in 2009 during the global financial crisis.

DBS’ Digital Transformation Success

Gupta credited DBS’ success in digital banking to:

• Revamping backend technology architecture
• Improving customer interfaces
• Shifting from product silos to customer journey-focused solutions
• Fostering an innovation-driven corporate culture
• Establishing a system for measuring progress

Leadership Transition: Ms Tan Su Shan Takes Over

Gupta will hand over leadership to Ms Tan Su Shan, currently deputy CEO and group head of institutional banking, at the annual general meeting on March 28.

Ms Tan’s Contributions to DBS

DBS Chairman Peter Seah praised Ms Tan for leading key digitalisation efforts, including:

• DBS digibank
• PayLah!
• iWealth
• AI model development and implementation of generative AI

DBS’ Growth Over the Last 15 Years

Ms Tan noted that DBS has evolved into a high-performing institution with one of the highest ROEs among developed market banks.

Key growth metrics since 2009:

• Market capitalisation quadrupled from $35 billion in 2009 to $124 billion in 2024
• ROE increased from 8.4% in 2009 to 18% in 2024
• Total shareholder returns reached 51% in 2024, the highest outside crisis-rebound years
• Consumer banking customers grew from 4.9 million in 2009 to 18.4 million in 2024
• DBS workforce expanded from 14,000 employees in 2009 to 41,000 in 2024

DBS’ Market Performance

DBS shares closed at $45.96 on March 6, reflecting a 0.75% increase.