Presiding over the upward trajectory of Eli Lilly over the last eight years has been paying off nicely for CEO David Ricks. In 2024, his compensation package grew to $29.2 million, according to the company’s proxy filing.
Ricks’ overall compensation package for 2024 was 10% larger than in 2023, when he made $26.6 million. Since 2017, when he took over as CEO of the Indianapolis drugmaker, Ricks’ annual compensation has nearly doubled from a starting point of $15.8 million.
And why not? From the start of 2017, Lilly’s market value has increased nearly tenfold from $80 billion to its present market capitalization of $781 billion, which is nearly twice that of the industry’s second-place company, Johnson & Johnson, at $401 billion.
As for 2024, it was a successful year for Lilly by any prominent financial measure. The company’s revenue grew by 32% to $45 billion and its earnings per share increased by 106% to $12.99, Lilly pointed out in its filing.
The revenue surge had much to do with the skyrocketing demand for Lilly’s dual-action GLP-1/GIP drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, which combined for sales of $16.4 billion in 2024.
Additionally, in its fourth-quarter report earlier this year, the company was quick to point out that its non-metabolic drugs accounted for a year-over-year sales increase of 20%, led by breast cancer therapy Verzenio and heart failure treatment Jardiance. Those drugs generated revenue of $5.3 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively, in 2024.
As for regulatory milestones in 2024, the company cited the new drug approvals of atopic dermatitis treatment Ebglyss and Alzheimer’s disease treatment Kisunla, both with blockbuster potential, in addition to an FDA label expansion for obesity medicine Zepbound to treat sleep apnea.
It all added up to a $5.7 million bonus for Ricks, the company said. His compensation also included $19.7 million in equity awards, $1.7 million in salary and $1.7 million in increased pension value.
Several drugmakers have yet to report their executive pay for 2024, but, so far, Ricks’ compensation exceeds that of other leaders of peer-group companies that Lilly identified in its proxy. Those include AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot, who made 14.7 million pounds sterling ($18.5 million) last year, and Novartis’ Vas Narasimhan, who collected 14.2 million Swiss francs ($15.7 million).
In 2023, J&J’s Joaquin Duato was Big Pharma’s highest-paid chief executive, receiving $28.4 million in his first full year leading the company, while Ricks’ $26.6 million figure was the second highest.
Among Lilly’s other executives, chief scientific officer Dan Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., made $12.6 million in 2024, which included a $3.2 million bonus. General counsel Anat Hakim collected $7.5 million, including a bonus of $2.3 million.