Wachovia execs could get $98.1 mln severance

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wachovia Corp WB.N, which lost $33 billion in the last two quarters, said 10 of its top executives may be entitled to as much as $98.1 million in severance pay after the bank is acquired by Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N).

In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Wachovia said the executives would receive severance under their employment agreements if the merger closes by Dec. 31, as expected. Wachovia said shareholders will vote on the merger on Dec. 23.

The 10 executives do not include Robert Steel, who in July replaced Ken Thompson as Wachovia's chief executive, and does not have an employment agreement.

Wachovia also said a closing would entitle its 11 executive officers, who include Steel, as well as Chairman Lanty Smith to $2.5 million in equity-based awards under stock incentive plans. But the executives' stock options are worthless, the bank said.

Christy Phillips-Brown, a Wachovia spokeswoman, said the actual amount of severance payments following the closing should be less than $98.1 million. This is because two of the 10 eligible executives have accepted positions at Wells Fargo, and "several others" are in talks, she said.

The executives who accepted Wells Fargo jobs are David Carroll, who will oversee wealth management, and Jerry Enos, who will join the technology and operations division.

U.S. regulators pushed Wachovia to find a merger partner after losses soared on a $118.7 billion portfolio of option adjustable-rate mortgages. The bank largely took these on when it bought California's Golden West Financial Corp in 2006.

Wells Fargo agreed on Oct. 3 to buy Wachovia for $15.1 billion in stock, trumping a lower bid by Citigroup Inc (C.N). The merger value had fallen to roughly $9.3 billion as of Nov. 21 because Wells Fargo shares had fallen.

Wachovia is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Wells Fargo in San Francisco. The combined company would be the fourth-largest U.S. bank, with about $1.4 trillion of assets.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Carol Bishopric)