The economic effects from the pandemic may place more pressure on investors to reevaluate the pay packages of CEOs in the future. But for the time being, "we are simply getting wealthier CEOs," according to an annual report from the nonprofit shareholder advocacy group As You Sow.
For its report, As You Sow evaluated the most "overpaid" CEOs of S&P 500 companies. The nonprofit used data to compute what CEO pay would be assuming such pay is related to total shareholder return. In its methodology, a ranking of companies by excess CEO pay and by shareholder votes on CEO pay are weighted at 40 percent. The final ranking based on CEO-to-worker pay ratio is weighted at 20 percent. Find the full methodology here.
As You Sow notes some CEOs may no longer hold the positions listed below, as the rankings were calculated using data made available before June 30, 2020.
Here are 21 healthcare CEOs who made As You Sow's list:
Larry Merlo (CVS Health)
Pay: $36.5 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 790:1
Excess pay: $24.3 million
Alan Miller (King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services)
Pay: $24.5 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 629:1
Excess pay: $12.4 million
Michael Neidorff (Centene)
Pay: $26.4 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 383:1
Excess pay: $13.3 million
Heather Bresch (Mylan)
Pay: $18.5 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 427:1
Excess pay: $7.5 million
John Hammergren (McKesson)
Pay: $17.4 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 458:1
Excess pay: $5.2 million
Samuel Hazen (Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare)
Pay: $26.8 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 478:1
Excess pay: $14.1 million
Stefano Pessina (Walgreens Boots Alliance)
Pay: $19.2 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 562:1
Excess pay: $7.3 million
Ari Bousbib (IQVIA)
Pay: $22.1 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 186:1
Excess pay: $8.7 million
Miles White (Abbott Laboratories)
Pay: $27.8 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 329:1
Excess pay: $14.2 million
Javier Rodriguez (DaVita)
Pay: $16.9 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 286:1
Excess pay: $4.3 million
Leonard Schleifer, MD, PhD (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals)
Pay: $21.5 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 154:1
Excess pay: $8.6 million
Daniel O'Day (Gilead Sciences)
Pay: $29.1 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 169:1
Excess pay: $16.9 million
David Cordani (Cigna)
Pay: $19.3 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 306.7:1
Excess pay: $6.5 million
Michael Minogue (Abiomed)
Pay: $19.2 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 166:1
Excess pay: $4.8 million
Joseph Hogan (Align Technology)
Pay: $18.3 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 1,328:1
Excess pay: $3.5 million
Kenneth Frazier (Merck)
Pay: $27.6 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 289:1
Excess pay: $14.5 million
Marc Casper (Thermo Fisher Scientific)
Pay: $19 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 235:1
Excess pay: $5 million
Michel Vounatsos (Biogen)
Pay: $18.2 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 114:1
Excess pay: $6 million
Michael Kaufmann (Cardinal Health)
Pay: $15.6 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 272:1
Excess pay: $3.4 million
Vincent Forlenza (Becton, Dickinson and Co.)
Pay: $16 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 379:1
Excess pay: $2.6 million
Omar Ishrak (Medtronic)
Pay: $17.8 million
CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 240:1
Excess pay: $4.8 million
Access the full list here.