Wall Street Banks Pay Out Record Total in Dividends and Buybacks

Wall Street banks handed back a record amount of capital to shareholders as surging profit and relaxing capital rules gave executives the confidence to ramp up stock buybacks.

The six biggest US banks paid out more than $140 billion in dividends and buybacks in 2025, surpassing the record set in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term. JPMorgan Chase & Co. repurchased more than $30 billion of stock, a high for Wall Street banks and more than triple what it bought back two years earlier.

In Trump’s second term, banks are becoming even more comfortable returning profits to shareholders ...