Call it an overtime bonus. Pfizer gave hefty rewards to two executives who knocked themselves out to close the Wyeth deal: CFO Frank D'Amelio (photo) will receive $1.2 million, while Biopharma Group President Ian Read gets $1 million. Half the bonus came in cash; the rest will be stock options that vest over the next few years, the Star-Ledger reports.
According to documents filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, the company's compensation committee decided that D'Amelio and Read "devoted extraordinary efforts and made extraordinary contributions in addressing critical components of the [Wyeth] transaction." This in addition to "carrying out their normal, ongoing responsibilities."
Just what were those extraordinary contributions? Getting long-term debt financing for the deal in spite of the global financial crisis, for one. For another, making Pfizer ready to absorb Wyeth quickly.
Of course, these bonuses don't seem so big when lined up against the change-in-control payment due to Wyeth President Bernard Poussot. According to SEC disclosures earlier this year, Poussot is in line for up to $53 million.
- read the Star-Ledger piece
ALSO: Pfizer has kicked off a second round of due diligence in a possible $400 million bid for India's Wockhardt, the Economic Times reports. Report