Friday, March 18, 2022

NO WORKER EVER GETS A 15% ANNUAL WAGE INCREASE

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla received $24.3 million in total compensation for 2021

Spencer Kimball 

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla received $24.3 million in total compensation for 2021, a 15% increase over the prior year.

Bourla's total equity holdings, nearly 597,000 shares, are worth more than $32 million as of Thursday's closing price $54.24.

He's entitled to a golden parachute of nearly $113 million, which was valued at end of December 2021

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© Provided by CNBC Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla addresses a press conference after a visit to oversee the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at the factory of U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer in Puurs, Belgium April 23, 2021.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla received $24.3 million in total compensation for 2021, a 15% increase over the prior year as the company's full-year profit more than doubled with the successful rollout of its Covid vaccine.


Bourla took home a cash incentive of $8 million on top of his salary of $1.69 million. He also received stock and options totaling $13.2 million as well as $1.38 million in other compensation.

Bourla's total equity holdings, nearly 597,000 shares, are worth more than $32 million as of Thursday's closing price of $54.24. He's also entitled to a golden parachute valued at nearly $113 million as of Dec. 31, if the company is sold and he loses his job as a result.

Bourla also received more than $336,000 for home security and more than $60,000 for air travel. His total salary is 262 times higher than the median compensation for a normal employee at Pfizer.

Pfizer booked a profit of nearly $22 billion in 2021, double the previous year as the company's Covid vaccine became the most widely administered shot against in the U.S. and the European Union. Sales from Pfizer's Covid vaccine totaled $36.7 billion in 2021, making up about 45% of its annual revenue of $81.2 billion. Pfizer is projecting another $32 billion in vaccine sales this year.


The shot was developed with BioNTech, its German partner, who created the technology underlying the vaccine. Pfizer and BioNTech splits profits from the vaccine equally.

Pfizer's shot was the first Covid vaccine to receive emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in December and also the first to receive full approval from the FDA. The eligibility age has been gradually lowered to everyone over 5 years old.

Pfizer's Covid treatment pill, Paxlovid, is also expected to become a hit, with the company projecting at least $22 billion in sales.

The vaccine maker's windfall from the shots are controversial with activist groups, which are calling for the companies to share their intellectual property with developing nations to help boost vaccination coverage. Oxfam America, in a proposal for Pfizer's annual meeting, has called for shareholders to back a feasibility study on transferring the underlying vaccine technology.

Pfizer's board of directors has called on shareholders to vote against the proposal, saying transferring the technology behind the shots requires highly skilled local partners that have the know-how to manufacture them. The company has committed to suppling 2 billion vaccine doses to poorer nations by the end of 2022.

THAT'S MORE LIKE IT
GE cuts CEO Culp's incentive grant after shareholder rebuke

By Rajesh Kumar Singh 
© Reuters/ARND WIEGMANN Logo of General Electric is seen in Baden

CHICAGO (Reuters) - General Electric Co on Thursday said its Chief Executive Larry Culp would take a 67% cut to an incentive grant this year after shareholders last year rejected his compensation package in a non-binding but rare rebuke over executive pay.

In its annual proxy statement filed on Thursday, the Boston-based industrial conglomerate said Culp's annual equity incentive grant for 2022 will be reduced to $5 million from $15 million.

The company also disclosed Culp's annual compensation last year was about $22.7 million, down 69% from 2020, due to a reduction in stock awards.

Proxy votes against executive pay at S&P 500 companies became more common last year and were often sparked by "questionable practices and metrics," such as easier performance targets during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report by shareholder advocacy group As You Sow.

© Reuters/Alwyn Scott FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: 
General Electric Co. Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp at the company’s annual meeting in Tarrytown

Among the S&P 500, a record 16 companies had the pay of their CEOs and other top leaders rejected by more than half of investors last year, up from 10 in 2020 and seven in 2019, the report said.

As part of an extension of Culp's employment contract to 2024, GE in 2020 canceled old shares he had been given and granted him new shares tied to lower financial targets. The compensation package entailed a payout through 2024 of as much as $230 million.

Some 57.7% of GE shareholders last year rejected the pay deal, according to preliminary results, which some proxy advisory firms argued was too generous.

GE said in the proxy statement its board had gathered feedback from shareholders on the issue and tried to address concerns related to compensation matters.

While defending the 2020 grant, the company said its board does not intend to enter into a similar modification of the CEO's employment agreement in the future.

It also promised to use discretion sparingly in determining bonus pools.

GE's annual shareholders meeting is scheduled in May.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Additional reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Richard Pullin)

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