David I. McKay

Early life

McKay was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. His father was a small business owner.

Education

McKay received a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and an Honorary Doctor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo. He received a Master’s in Business Administration and an Honorary Doctors of Law from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. In addition, McKay received an Honorary Degree from Ryerson University.

Career

McKay began working at the Royal Bank of Canada in 1983 as a co-op student in Computer Programming prior to relocating to the bank’s retail banking arm. McKay left the Royal Bank of Canada in September 1991 and returned to school. After completing his MBA in 1992, he returned. In December 1993, McKay re-started at RBC as a Manager in corporate banking and steadily climbed the corporate ladder over the next 28 years. Over the years he held the following titles with RBC: Account Manager, Commercial Markets; Senior Account Manager, National Accounts; Senior Manager, Country and Sectoral Risk; Vice President, Portfolio Management; Vice President, Portfolio Management, Credit Scoring and Card Risk; Senior Vice President, Financing Products; Senior Vice President, Credit Cards, Personal and Business Financial Products; Head, Personal Banking; Executive Vice President, Personal Financial Services; Group Head, Canadian Banking; Group Head, Personal and Commercial Banking, Canada, USA, Caribbean; and President. In August 2014, McKay was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer of RBC, a title he holds to this day.

Net Worth

As president, Chief Executive Officer and Director of RBC, McKay’s total compensation is $13,693,900 (Canadian). McKay has an estimated net worth of $137 million.

Achievement

Before rising to President and Chief Executive Officer of RBC, McKay contributed to the growth of the company’s retail banking business and oversaw its move into the payments space. McKay has led RBC’s acquisition of City National Corporation. He supported and developed RBC’s “Future Launch” program, a 10-year, $500 charity program. In 2019, RBC’s Blueprint committed $100 billion in sustainable financing by 2025. In 2020, RBC became the first Canadian bank to sign a long-term power purchase agreement for renewable energy.