MNC Pharma C-Level 2024 Compensation Showdown: Who Is the Top-Paid CEO?

The salary of pharmaceutical enterprises has always been a highly discussed topic within the industry, among which the compensation of CEOs at the "ceiling" level of the industry is the focus of much debate. With the gradual release of 2024 financial reports, the 2024 compensation details of CEOs and executives from several large multinational pharmaceutical companies (MNCs) are coming to light. Among them, companies like Pfizer and Eli Lilly increased CEO compensation due to successful strategies and sales growth, while Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca reduced executive compensation because of market conditions and internal company challenges. Below is a detailed breakdown of the changes in executive compensation for seven MNCs.

Pfizer: CEO Salary Increase of 14%

Pfizer Sees Earnings Rebound After Challenges, CEO Albert Bourla's Compensation Also Changes

In 2022, Pfizer awarded Bourla a total compensation of $33 million due to the enormous sales performance of its COVID-19 products. However, in 2023, Pfizer's misjudgment of the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and the antiviral drug Paxlovid led to a 35% decrease in his compensation, dropping it to $21.6 million.

Last year, sales of these products rebounded unexpectedly, with Pfizer's total revenue growing by 7% in 2024 to reach $63.627 billion. In addition, Pfizer completed a $4 billion cost-saving plan, launched seven key research initiatives, and ranked third globally in oncology sales, thanks to the $43 billion acquisition of Seagen in 2023.

Bourla received a $7 million incentive bonus in 2024, nearly twice the $3.6 million "target bonus," and just $2 million shy of the company's maximum allowable bonus.

Besides Bourla, the outgoing Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten received a compensation of $9.7 million, U.S. Chief Business Officer Aamir Malik received $8.3 million, and the new Chief Scientific Officer Chris Boshoff received $7.9 million.

Johnson & Johnson: CEO Salary Cut by 14%

Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato's Total Compensation in 2024 Drops to $24.3 Million

In 2024, Johnson & Johnson's sales reached $88.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%, demonstrating outstanding performance in the life sciences industry. However, the company is still grappling with talc powder litigation. In its proxy statement, Johnson & Johnson recorded $5.1 billion in accounting charges related to talc powder in 2024 but decided to exclude this expense from executive compensation considerations. The rationale is that the events and decisions related to the litigation allegations occurred before the tenure of current executives, who have since taken measures to mitigate the impact of the litigation on the company and shareholders.

Among other executives at Johnson & Johnson, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk's compensation decreased from $13.9 million in 2023 to $12.6 million. Jennifer Taubert, head of innovative medicines, received total compensation of $11.2 million. John Reed, head of R&D, was compensated at $9.3 million, and Tim Schmid, head of medical devices, received $11.9 million in his first year in the role.

AbbVie: New CEO's First-Year Compensation is Substantial

As the succession plan progresses following the expiration of Humira's patent, AbbVie’s new CEO Robert Michael has reaped substantial rewards in 2024. Taking over the CEO position on July 1, 2024, his total annual compensation reached approximately $18.5 million, an increase of $4 million from his earnings as Chief Operating Officer in 2023.

Of the $18.5 million in compensation, $1.6 million came from salary, an increase of less than $200,000 since his promotion in 2023. The majority of the compensation came from nearly $10 million in stock and option awards, along with a $4.6 million cash bonus tied to company incentives. Additionally, he received over $480,000 in the "all other compensation" category, which includes expenses such as company car provision, financial planning services, non-business air travel, and security.

AbbVie's Compensation Committee, in explaining Michael's 2024 compensation package, noted that he "achieved or exceeded" multiple goals, such as laying the foundation for sustainable long-term business performance, building investor confidence and credibility, advancing AbbVie’s mid-to-late stage pipeline, and driving the company's transformation towards a biopharmaceutical culture. In 2024, AbbVie achieved its first full-year revenue growth following the loss of Humira's patent exclusivity, while several of its drugs, including Skyrizi for ulcerative colitis, Vyalev for Parkinson’s disease, and Epkinly for relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, received key approvals.

AbbVie's former CEO Richard Gonzalez earned $25.7 million in his final full year of tenure in 2023, frequently ranking among the highest-paid CEOs in the industry during his term. Now, AbbVie is pinning its growth hopes on Skyrizi and Rinvoq, the follow-up treatments to Humira, which generated sales of $11.7 billion and $6 billion respectively last year. Earlier this year, AbbVie raised its combined sales forecast for these two drugs by 2027 to $31 billion.

Lilly: CEO Salary Increase of 10%

Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks' compensation reached $29.2 million in 2024, a 10% increase from 2023. Since taking over as CEO of Eli Lilly in 2017, the company's market value has grown from $80 billion to $781 billion currently, nearly a tenfold increase, and almost twice the market value of Johnson & Johnson ($401 billion), the industry's second-largest company.

In 2024, Eli Lilly's revenue grew by 32% to reach $45 billion, with earnings per share increasing by 106% to $12.99. This achievement was largely driven by the strong demand for Eli Lilly's dual-action GLP-1/GIP drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, which together generated $16.4 billion in sales in 2024. Additionally, the company’s non-metabolic drugs achieved a 20% year-over-year sales growth, with Verzenio for breast cancer treatment bringing in $5.3 billion and Jardiance for heart failure treatment contributing $3.3 billion in revenue.

In terms of regulatory achievements, in 2024, Eli Lilly's atopic dermatitis treatment Ebglyss and Alzheimer's disease treatment Kisunla received new drug approvals, and the obesity drug Zepbound also gained FDA approval for a label expansion to treat sleep apnea. These accomplishments earned Ricks a bonus of $5.7 million, with his compensation also including $19.7 million in equity awards, a $1.7 million salary, and a $1.7 million increase in pension value.

Among other executives at Eli Lilly, Chief Scientific Officer Dan Skovronsky's 2024 compensation is $12.6 million, including a $3.2 million bonus, and General Counsel Anat Hakim's compensation is $7.5 million, including a $2.3 million bonus.

Novartis and Roche: CEO Compensation Increased for Both

Novartis and Roche, the two Swiss pharmaceutical giants, saw sales growth in 2024, and their CEOs also received higher compensation.

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan's Total Compensation Increases by 6.9% to CHF 14.2 Million (Approx. USD 15.7 Million) in 2024

Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker's 2024 compensation was slightly above 10 million Swiss francs (approximately $11.1 million), a 4.6% increase from 2023. His total compensation from two four-year long-term stock awards remained nearly the same in 2024 and 2023, both just under 3 million Swiss francs. Schinecker’s base salary increased by 7.5% to 3.2 million Swiss francs, while his bonus rose by 6.7% to 3.4 million Swiss francs, with bonuses starting in 2024 being awarded in stock rather than cash. In 2024, Roche’s sales grew by 7% at constant exchange rates, or 9% excluding COVID-19 products. The bispecific eye injection drug Vabysmo continued its strong sales momentum, reaching 3.86 billion Swiss francs, but multiple trial failures of the TIGIT antibody tiragolumab cast a shadow over the company’s overall performance.

AstraZeneca: CEO Salary Cut by 16%

Despite AstraZeneca's 18% revenue growth in 2024, with 14 of its products achieving blockbuster sales, CEO Pascal Soriot's compensation dropped by 16%. According to the company’s annual report, his pay decreased from £17.4 million (£21.9 million) in 2023 to £14.7 million (£18.5 million).

AstraZeneca explained that a significant portion of the compensation is tied to "stock price appreciation." Since Pascal Soriot took over in 2012, he has helped increase the company's stock price more than sixfold, but the company’s shares have stagnated in the past two years. In 2024, Soriot’s fixed compensation (including base salary, taxable benefits, and pension) and bonus increased, but his long-term incentive pay, which is closely linked to the stock price, dropped from £12.8 million (£16.1 million) in 2023 to £9.4 million (£11.9 million). This was the main reason for the decline in his total compensation.

Nevertheless, AstraZeneca affirmed Pascal Soriot's leadership: "Despite an increasingly volatile global environment, Mr. Soriot led AstraZeneca to strong performance in 2024, achieving another year of robust revenue growth and remarkable results in the pipeline." Last spring, a group of investors opposed the company’s proposed compensation plan but ultimately failed; renowned investor Rajiv Jain, chairman of GQG Partners, even stated that Soriot was "underpaid."

The 2024 compensation of senior executives from these multinational pharmaceutical companies reflects that a combination of factors, such as corporate performance, progress in research and development, and fluctuations in market stock prices, jointly influence the level of executive pay. This also offers a unique perspective for observing the development trends of the global pharmaceutical industry.

Previously, Yidu Medicine also reported on the salary adjustments of multinational pharmaceutical CEOs. Click to view:

1、《Moderna's Revenue Declines, but CEO's Compensation Rises 16.4% Against the Trend!》

2、《BioNTech CEO Earned 260 Million Euros in 2024!》

3、《Lilly CEO's Salary Increases by 10%, Reaching $29.2 Million!》

4、《Bayer CEO "Pay Cut", Company Embarks on Three-Year Restructuring Journey

5、《GSK CEO's Salary Expected to Double by 2025?》

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