Eli Lilly CEO's pay package slides 11% to $14.6M

Eli Lilly ($LLY) CEO John Lechleiter took a pay cut last year--sort of. His 2012 compensation declined by 11%, to $14.6 million. But as Dow Jones reports, the drop stems from a smaller increase in the value of his pension.

Compared with some other U.S. pharma companies, Lilly's CEO compensation is much less frilly. Lechleiter's 2012 salary stood at $1.5 million, the same as it did in 2011. He didn't use the corporate aircraft for personal travel. His "other" compensation--which can include anything from car service to personal financial advice to security systems--included only one item, 401k matching, and that amounted to $90,000.

Still, Lechleiter collected several millions in incentive pay--$2.982 million to be exact, up slightly from last year's $2.625 million. He also garnered $5.625 million in stock awards, the same as the previous year, and down from $8.175 million in 2010. The value of his pension grew by $4.42 million in 2012, compared with a $6.53 million increase in 2011.

Lilly hasn't been one of Big Pharma's better performers in recent years. It has suffered from the patent cliff like its peers, but unlike its luckier rivals, has brought out very few new products. Last year, Lilly's sales dropped by 7% to $22.6 billion, and its profits fell by 6%.

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