How does pharma's CEO pay rank?

We know how pharma CEO pay stacked up within the industry. But how did pharma's 2011 compensation packages compare with those in other industries? The Wall Street Journal answers that question with its annual compensation survey: The highest-paid in pharma doesn't even break the top 25.

That top-paid executive, Johnson & Johnson's ($JNJ) William Weldon, comes in at 37th on the WSJ list, with $18.37 million. Next up among drugmakers is Amgen's ($AMGN) Kevin Sharer, whose 2011 pay amounted to $18.05 million, as calculated for WSJ by the Hay Group. (It should be noted that FiercePharma uses broader-based compensation figures, which boosts the total for both these CEOs above $20 million.)

Only three more pharma CEOs qualified for the top 60: Pfizer's ($PFE) Ian Read, in 44th place with $17.8 million; Abbott Laboratories' ($ABT) Miles White in 58th place with $15.74 million; and Gilead Sciences' ($GILD) John Martin in 60th place with $15.61 million. The next drugmaker executive on the list ranks 93rd: Bristol-Myers Squibb's ($BMY) Lamberto Andreotti with $13.08 million.

High-tech, entertainment and even retail executives outranked pharma. Apple's ($AAPL) Tim Cook racked up $377.98 million in total direct compensation for first place, the survey shows, with Oracle's ($ORCL) Larry Ellison in second place at $76.01 million. CBS' ($CBS) Les Moonves was third with $69.32 million, while JCPenney's ($JCP) Ronald Johnson came in fourth with $53.27 million. The numbers fall off rather swiftly from there; $28.89 million qualifies Ford Motor's ($F) Alan Mulally for 10th place.

- see the WSJ ranking

Special Report: Top 10 Pharma CEO Salaries of 2011