Jefferies chief awarded $58m after deal for bank Richard Handler, the chief executive of Jefferies, has been awarded $58m worth of cash and stock following the independent investment bank's acquisition by Leucadia National. Mr Handler, 51, was a given a total pay package of $19m for his work in 2012 - a 36 per cent increase from his remuneration in 2011. The package includes a $5m cash bonus, $13m in shares and his $1m annual salary. The chief executive was also given $39m worth of restricted stock awards that vest over the next three years. The higher pay comes two months after Jefferies announced it would be sold to the investment conglomerate, which is its largest shareholder and has built a reputation as a "Baby Berkshire Hathaway." Mr Handler is set to become chief executive of the enlarged company, while Brian Friedman, chairman of Jefferies" executive committee, will become Leucadia's president. Mr Handler's pay "reflects his significant direct contributions to the operating results of the company, particularly with respect to the equity trading, investment banking and management of Jefferies High Yield Trading [one of the bank's bond funds]," Jefferies said in a regulatory filing made on Tuesday. Shares in Jefferies have risen nearly 25 per cent over the past year, a gain in line with financial sector stocks over the same period. Leucadia offered in November to buy Jefferies in an all-share deal, paying a premium of 24 per cent. While Jefferies reported better than expected earnings in the last three months of the year, boosted by bond trading, the company has slipped in the deals league tables that Wall Street banks use to gauge each other's performance. Mr Handler's hefty package may raise eyebrows internally. While Jefferies paid its bankers in much-desired all-cash bonuses this year, some said the cash bonuses were paltry compared with pay at other banks. Employees must pay the cash back if they leave for one of Jefferies" competitors. Even at $58m, the payout to Mr Handler was lower than it might have been. The chief executive agreed to reduce his cash bonus from $8.1m to $5m. Mr Friedman also waived $2.3m worth of his cash bonus, leaving him with $3.8m. The bank's remuneration committee was "unanimously impressed with our financial performance and Mr Handler's and Mr Friedman's roles in that performance, [and] were fully prepared to pay Mr Handler and Mr Friedman those performance-based bonuses," the bank said in the filing. Mr Handler and Mr Friedman, however, volunteered to reduce their respective bonus compensation. Mr Handler is one of the few bank CEOs on Wall Street to have received a pay increase this year. James Gorman, Morgan Stanley chief executive, will receive a "moderately" lower package for 2012. At JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon's cash and stock bonus was halved to $10m. Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, is likely to receive a pay package of $21m for his work in 2012 - almost double the $12m he earned in 2011.