---
title: Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank Has Sold $924 Million in COF Stock — On a $0 Salary
type: news
slug: capital-one-ceo-fairbank-924-million-career-sales-zero-salary-2026
canonical_url: https://13finsight.com/news/capital-one-ceo-fairbank-924-million-career-sales-zero-salary-2026
published_at: 2026-03-01T02:19:31.817Z
updated_at: 2026-03-23T07:05:28.677Z
author: Alex Rivera
author_title: Breaking News Editor
author_url: https://13finsight.com/authors/alex-rivera
word_count: 427
locale: en
source: 13F Insight
---

# Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank Has Sold $924 Million in COF Stock — On a $0 Salary

> The only major-bank CEO who takes zero salary. Richard Fairbank exercises options at $63.73 and sells at $220+ in coordinated mega-blocks. Two October-November sessions alone netted $46.2M.

Richard Fairbank is the only major-bank CEO in America who takes zero salary. No base pay. No cash bonus. His entire compensation comes as stock options in Capital One Financial (COF) — and he has been methodically converting those options into cash for over two decades. Career total: $924,381,419 in COF stock sales across 14,374 Form 4 transactions. In October-November 2025 alone, two mega-block exercise-and-sell sessions generated approximately $46.2 million. The exercise-and-sell machine Fairbank’s pattern is distinct from the daily-drip sellers. Instead of small daily lots, he concentrates activity into periodic large blocks: exercise tens of thousands of options at the grant strike price, then immediately sell the shares at market price. Two recent sessions tell the story: Date Options Exercised Exercise Price Shares Sold Avg Sell Price Est. Proceeds Oct 27, 2025 53,486 $63.73 103,486 ~$225.80 ~$23.4M Nov 4, 2025 53,487 $63.73 103,487 ~$220.40 ~$22.8M The economics: exercise at $63.73, sell at $218-$227. That is a $157-$163 spread per share — a 250%+ gain on the exercise price. Both sessions followed the same structure: exercise options in one account, sell shares across 8-10 lots throughout the day, complete the entire cycle within hours. The zero-salary model Fairbank founded Capital One in 1994 and has served as CEO ever since — 30+ years. His compensation structure is unique among top-20 US bank CEOs: Base salary: $0 (since founding) Cash bonus: $0 Stock awards: Received 76,675 + 76,676 shares in June 2025 (two grants) Options: Periodic grants, typically with multi-year vesting This means every dollar Fairbank earns from Capital One comes through selling stock. His $924M in career sales is his compensation, not a supplement to it. 2025 activity summary Date Activity Details Feb 15 Exercise + disposition 36,195 options, disposed at $201.77 Mar 10 Awards + tax withholding 115,438 shares awarded, 52,064 withheld for tax Jun 3 Stock awards 153,351 shares received (two grants) Oct 27 Exercise + sell 53,486 options at $63.73, sold 103,486 shares ~$23.4M Nov 4 Exercise + sell 53,487 options at $63.73, sold 103,487 shares ~$22.8M After the November sale, Fairbank holds approximately 4,001,228 shares of COF, worth roughly $880 million at ~$220 per share. What to watch Whether more $63.73-strike options remain — if so, Fairbank has strong incentive to exercise before expiration given the 250%+ spread. Capital One’s pending Discover Financial acquisition and how deal completion might affect Fairbank’s selling timeline. New option or equity grants at the 2026 annual meeting — watch for grants that would reset his selling runway. Any changes to the zero-salary compensation model in proxy filings.

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Source: 13F Insight — https://13finsight.com/news/capital-one-ceo-fairbank-924-million-career-sales-zero-salary-2026
Author: Alex Rivera — https://13finsight.com/authors/alex-rivera
Last updated: 2026-03-23T07:05:28.677Z