Guiding AbbVie through an extraordinary decade-plus, riding the success of juggernaut inflammatory disease drug Humira and softening the landing upon its decline, Richard Gonzalez continues to reap the rewards as one of biopharma’s highest-paid execs.
In his final full year as AbbVie’s CEO, Gonzalez collected $25.7 million in total pay, according to the company’s proxy filing. Gonzalez’s compensation was a slight decline from his $26.3 million pay in 2022 when he was the 9th highest-paid CEO in the industry. In the three previous years, Gonzalez ranked among the top five best-paid biopharma CEOs.
Last month, Gonzalez revealed that he would step down at the end of June, with Chief Operating Officer Robert Michael taking over on July 1. Gonzalez will continue as the executive chairman of the board of directors.
Gonzalez, 70, is the lone CEO in AbbVie’s 12-year history after it was spun out of diagnostics and medical device company Abbott, where he had worked for three decades.
Gonzalez has been a target of criticism for AbbVie’s pricing strategies and the patent barriers that the company erected around Humira, which was approved in 2003 and retained its market exclusivity in the United States until last year.
But the company has remained on an upward trajectory throughout his tenure. Just last week, AbbVie achieved its highest closing stock price in its history ($181.20). Over its 12 years, AbbVie’s market cap has risen from $54 billion to its current $316 billion, which is its all-time high.
Last year, as Humira’s sales tumbled 32% to $14.4 billion, revenue for its follow-on treatments Skyrizi and Rinvoq increased by 51% and 58%, respectively. Together, the duo raked in sales of $11.7 billion in 2023. AbbVie projects their combined revenue to reach $27 billion by 2027, with many more years of exclusivity remaining as they both were originally approved in 2019.
“Without the thoughtful strategy to navigate the challenging conditions in 2023 that was conceived, developed, and executed by the senior executive team, led by Mr. Gonzalez, it is highly likely the impact of U.S. Humira’s (loss of exclusivity) on the financial results would have been more significant,” AbbVie wrote in its filing in justifying the $3.5 million bonus the CEO received in 2023.
Gonzalez’s equity awards totaled $17.1 million in 2023, versus $18.9 million in 2022. While his incentive plan compensation declined from $3.9 million to $3.5 million, his change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation rose from $439,000 to $1.3 million. His other compensation also rose from $1.3 million to $1.9 million, with $642,157 provided for air travel.
AbbVie’s other top execs cashed in last year, as well. Incoming CEO Michael saw his total compensation increase from $9.8 million to $14.4 million, with most of the bump coming from his change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation, which increased by more than $3 million.
Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Stewart netted $15.3 million in 2023, up from $9.6 million, with nearly all of the difference also coming from his change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation, which was up $5.5 million from the previous year.
Chief Financial Officer Scott Reents saw his compensation nearly double from $5.6 million in 2022 to $10.2 million last year as his equity awards rose from $2.4 million to $5 million. Chief Operations Officer Azita Saleki-Gerhardt collected $9.3 million, which was up from $9 million in 2022.