Novartis' Daniel Vasella - CEO Pay
Daniel Vasella- Novartis
Total Compensation: $15.5M
2006 Revenue: $38.1B
2007 Revenue: $39.8B
Change: 4.46%
Details: Vasella earned 17 million Swiss francs, or about $15.5M in 2007. That's down from 21 million francs in 2006, or $17.5 million -- a figure that some say places him among the highest-paid executives in Europe.
Novartis News:
Vasella touts Novartis' diversification
CEO: Novartis plans big restructuring
Cash-rich Novartis CEO mulls biotech buyouts
Comments
By Anonymous | Posted 12:48pm | June 5, 2008
I would like someone to explain, with valid and reasonable information, as to the reason for such a salary... If that individual is let go will the company not be able to function??? What I am trying to say is that there a lot of other individuals that cooperate to make him "shine" that are not get paid anything close to what he's getting ... I am not trying to sound "COMUNIST" but wouldn't our society be better off by having people like this totally gone! I am thinking of all of those researchers that can make it or break it for the company that certainly do not make a fraction of what he gets.
What does a person like that do, with all that money, that benefits humanity or him personally...
Crazy world we live in!
By Anonymous | Posted 11:12pm | July 26, 2008
I will explain why you're talking through your hat. Mr. Vasella, as CEO of Novertis, made the decision to invest a huge sum of company money to increase production of an experimental leukemia drug called STI571.
The increased production was a great gamble, because the drug was not yet proven. But the increased production enabled the drug to be brought to market in only 32 months, instead of the usual 8 years.
That drug is now called Gleevec and is the most dramatic cancer drug ever developed. It is the first drug that controls a deadly form of leukemia with virtually no side effects. It is about 98% effective. It is also an enormous moneymaker for Novartis.
Had Vasella not taken that gamble, the drug would have been long delayed--or might never have been developed at all. Then thousands of people now living would be dead. Because of Vasella chronic myelogenous leukemia is now a treatable chronic disease instead of a killer.
For that alone, he is well worth the money he is paid.
By Anonymous | Posted 7:05am | March 20, 2009
If you think for a moment that the decision to pursue Gleevac was soley resting on Vasella's shoulders, you have sadly mistaken. There are many people that ultimately sit around the room and sift through scores of documents (that the researchers have created through all of their efforts), and a reasonable decision is made that factors in many opinions of the experts of people far more qualified to make these decisions than Mr Vasella is. Having a family member with cancer and having personal experiences with Novartis, I do not underestimate the impact of certain drugs that are pursued and then become hugely impactful.
However, I still find it ridiculous that any person who is simply at the helm of a company (and did not "START" the company) should be getting paid $50,000 per day 365 days per year. This is really annoying to know when one considers the number of cuts and downsizing efforts that take place with employees earning salaries not significantly larger than that annually....
Parody??
By SL | Posted 4:56pm | October 21, 2008
Personal tax rates in Sweden are among the highest in the word ~50%. Its a 40B dollar company and his salaray is less than 0.04% of that. If he is a great leader the money is not the issue it is his impact. Usually these people do nothing really but work all the time. Perhaps he enjoys giving much of it away (in his very little spare time) in ways where he can make a big impact on society. Let us hope so.
By Kundl | Posted 2:12am | June 6, 2008
Latest news told us that Vasella isn't satisfied with Sandoz's performance. Teva is bigger, it's vertically integrated--and it's been outpacing Sandoz on various key benchmarks.
He pretends being such a smart guy and still does not understand, that someone cannot manage a generic business like Novartis pharma. Constant interference from Basel, a cultur of fear and mistrust led to high fluctuation in key people.
It most likely getting harder to maintain the image of this overpaid sunny boy.
By Former CIBA employee | Posted 11:46pm | June 8, 2008
His trategy of "driving shareholder earnings" has created a revolving door at the CIBA Vision subsidiary- a once proud and innovative company until the Sandoz gang decided they knew more about the marketplace and better direction of the copany than many longterm executive and staff.
Trying to convert a medical device manufacturer into a commodity/consumer driven company has seen the drop in marketshare (even after acquiring a major competitor), market influence, and prestige. Now they wonder why the company is on it's 4th global CEO in 6 years and can't keep management in it's global operations along with it's NA and Japan business units.
Maybe Dr. Dan if you had promoted from within instead of bringing in the people behind New Coke to run the company (and similar hiring moves in the other divisions)Novartis would be in better shape and you caould made a few more Swiss francs!
By Anonymous | Posted 1:20pm | August 10, 2009
He is paid so much because, others do not have GUTS to take the comments we are putting here if something goes wrong. He has it!
If the company breaks or fails at sometime, he is the one who will take the responsibility!
Higher the risk, higher the pay!
By current novartis bod | Posted 12:55am | August 18, 2009
Gleevec got to the market in spite of Novartis. It was killed off and revived no few than five times and championed by an external clinican. The amount of money vasella earns is clearly excessive. If you watched his cringing video recently attempting (badly) to jusitfy his pay, you would see that even he recognises its too much. But thats the swiss for you - money and status is all that counts
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