The chief executives of healthcare companies are among the best paid in industry, according to a Wall Street Journal survey.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) CEO Raymond Elliott ranked eighth on the newspaper’s list, earning $32.1 million last year. That’s a princely sum to be sure, but includes a hefty signing bonus and other, long-term awards.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) CEO Marc Casper edged Elliott out for the seventh spot with $33.0 million in 2009
William Weldon, the CEO of healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), ranked third among healthcare CEOs and 19th overall, with 2009 earnings of $19.8 million, while Miles White of device and pharmaceutical maker Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) came in 25th overall with earnings of $18.7 million, according to the Journal’s ranking.
The CEOs of pharmaceutical firms Bristol-Myers Squibb, Coventry Health Care, Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Amgen and insurance giant Aetna rounded out the top 10.
The medtech industry managed to withstand the tough economic conditions of the past two years, although the fiscal discipline of the country’s largest medical device companies may be the reason for the success. Publicly traded medtech companies in the U.S. and Europe reported essentially flat sales in 2009 of $294.1 billion, net income rose by 10.8 percent last year, according to a recent study by Ernst & Young.