John Finneran Jr.

His boss, Richard Fairbank, is the fourth-highest-paid executive in the country, after cashing in a whopping $142 million in Capital One Financial Corp. options last year. But John Finneran Jr., Capital One's general counsel, isn't complaining. Last year Finneran sold some $15.5 million worth of stock, leaving a pile worth $4.4 million in the Falls Church, Va.-based company's bank.

X

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.
His boss, Richard Fairbank, is the fourth-highest-paid executive in the country, after cashing in a whopping $142 million in Capital One Financial Corp. options last year. But John Finneran Jr., Capital One’s general counsel, isn’t complaining. Last year Finneran sold some $15.5 million worth of stock, leaving a pile worth $4.4 million in the company bank. (Almost half of those options are exercisable; the rest are not.) That Finneran and other Capital One executives unloaded 2.45 million shares in early 2001 did not go unnoticed by analysts, who questioned the timing. But unlike the massive insider dumping that took place at Enron Corp., Tyco International Ltd., and other troubled businesses last year, the sell-off at Capital One was no ominous harbinger. Net income at the Falls Church, Va.-based provider of consumer loans, deposits, and credit cards shot up 37 percent in 2001. While rivals American Express Co. and Providian Financial Corp. struggled with mounting consumer debt, Capital One has been praised for clamping down on risky customers, thereby avoiding costly charge-offs. Finneran joined Capital One as general counsel in September 1994, several weeks before the business was spun off from Signet Banking Corp. Before that, Finneran, 52, spent three years as an acting deputy general counsel of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and 10 years in the Washington, D.C., office of New York’s Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. At Capital One, Finneran oversees a 50-lawyer department. On top of his stock payout, he pocketed a $940,000 bonus in 2001, after forgoing a bonus the prior three years. He declined to discuss his remuneration, but a company spokeswoman says that there was nothing unusual about last year’s stock sale by senior executives. In Finneran’s case, it was a “personal decision that he made.”

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Benefits of a Digital Membership:

  • Free access to 3 articles* every 30 days
  • Access to the entire ALM network of websites
  • Unlimited access to the ALM suite of newsletters
  • Build custom alerts on any search topic of your choosing
  • Search by a wide range of topics

*May exclude premium content
Already have an account?

Trending Stories

 

Featured Product

Global Briefing

A weekly, curated selection of our international content from around the globe, across the business of law, in-house, regulatory, technology and more, with expert insights from our senior editors.

Learn More

More from ALM

 

ALM Legal Publication Newsletters

Sign Up Today and Never Miss Another Story.

As part of your digital membership, you can sign up for an unlimited number of a wide range of complimentary newsletters. Visit your My Account page to make your selections. Get the timely legal news and critical analysis you cannot afford to miss. Tailored just for you. In your inbox. Every day.

Privacy Policy

About Us / Contact Us / Site Map / Advertise With Us/ Customer Service / Terms of Service/ FAQ / Privacy Policy

Publications

Law Topics

Rankings

More

Law.com

Copyright © 2020 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All Rights Reserved.