Valeant CEO Joseph Papa Was Paid $62.7 Million in 2016

By Anne Steele 

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. Chief Executive Joseph Papa took in $62.7 million in pay last year as it navigated the fallout from accounting problems, a near debt default and investigations by Congress.

The drug-industry vet was tapped to take over the embattled Canadian company in May and sought to rebuild investor confidence and remake the business after a series of missteps.

The bulk of Mr. Papa's pay -- $42 million -- came from stock awards, while $9.1 million came from bonuses. His salary was $980,769.

Mr. Papa received an $8 million signing bonus, and a $1.1 million "individual performance" bonus.

Valeant said the financial goals it had established at the beginning of the year -- before Mr. Papa took the reins -- weren't "sufficiently achieved" in 2016, but the company paid the new CEO half of the additional cash bonus to recognize "the significance and quality of the contributions" he has made. Under the compensation package Valeant offered, the board could have paid Mr. Papa as much as $2.25 million for his performance last year.

"The board is very supportive of Mr. Papa's efforts to date and is confident in his abilities and those of his team to lead us through our transformation," the company said in a filing.

Mr. Papa's pay was more than five times higher than what he had earned in 2015 at the helm of Perrigo Co., but less than half of the $141.6 million Valeant's former CEO Michael Pearson was paid at Valeant in 2015.

Valeant's stock has dropped 68% over the past 12 months -- and 96% from its August 2015 peak of $262.52 -- through Wednesday's close at $10.71.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2017 09:56 ET (13:56 GMT)

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