QUICK READ: The compensation for pharma CEOs is starting to be reported and it’s off the charts. Bob Bradway of Amgen bagged a $20.1 million compensation package in 2020, a slight increase from his $19.6 million total the previous year. Pfizer CEO Bourla’s Pay Climbed 17% to $21 Million in 2020 and Gilead Sciences CEO Daniel O’Day earned a $19 million take home. This has to end.
WHAT NOW: The idea that most pharma companies are here to serve patients is a canard. Pharma CEO’s serve themselves with big salaries tied to drug prices and keeping drugs from coming off patent.
KEY SUMMARY: According to Axios “the CEOs of 70 of the largest U.S. health care companies cumulatively have earned $9.8 billion in the seven years since the Affordable Care Act was passed, and their earnings have grown faster than most Americans’ during that time, according to an Axios analysis of federal financial documents.
KEY TAKEAWAY: Median pay for healthcare and pharmaceutical executives amounted to $14.5 million in 2015, higher than for leaders in any other sector , according to Equilar, a California firm that researches and analyzes executive compensation. Median compensation for all CEOs in the study, which looked at pay packages of 341 executives at S&P 500 companies across multiple sectors in 2015, was $10.8 million. The increase in healthcare executive pay from 2014 to 2015 was also greater than in other sectors. Healthcare CEO pay rose 7 percent last year over the amount in 2014, while the comparable median pay increase for all industries was 4.5 percent.