BioSpace analyzed the pay ratio across 10 major pharmaceutical companies to determine which CEOs were paid the most relative to typical employees. J&J, Eli Lilly and Pfizer once again topped the list.
Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato’s pay relative to the median employee at the healthcare giant was one of the highest in pharma in 2025, with a ratio of 358 to 1.
Duato’s ratio was higher in 2025 compared with the year prior, when he was paid 293 times the median employee. The new data comes in at the top of the pharma companies that BioSpace analyzed.
The CEO made $32.6 million including bonuses, stock and other compensation. The median J&J employee in 2025 made $91,000, which is the lowest pay on the list of 10 pharma companies. BioSpace examined the top pharmas by revenue for this analysis.
Behind Duato is pharma’s highest-paid CEO, Eli Lilly’s David Ricks, who took home $36.7 million last year. His median employee, however, was paid $125,100, for a ratio of 293 to 1. Pfizer’s Albert Bourla came in third with a ratio of 277 to 1.
All three were on last year’s list, with Merck’s Robert Davis coming in fourth. This year, however, AbbVie’s Robert Michael rounds out the top four with a ratio of 192 to 1, just nudging out Davis’ 191 to 1.
On the other side of the list, Vertex Pharmaceuticals CEO Reshma Kewalramani, with her $21.2 million pay package, had the lowest ratio at 80 to 1. That’s because Vertex pays employees the most, with a median salary of $264,487.
Gilead Sciences too offered high compensation for employees, with a median pay of $238,979, while CEO Daniel O’Day made $28.4 million, for a ratio of 119:1.
Across all industries, the average wage for U.S. employees was $69,846 in 2024.
But all the pharma CEOs’ wages pale in comparison to those of some of their corporate peers. According to executive intelligence firm Equilar, average CEO pay continued its upward trajectory in 2025, reaching $29.4 million—23% more than the year prior. And just like in pharma, salaries represent but a fraction of these execs’ total pay packages.
The highest paid CEO was Wayfair’s Niraj Shah with an eye-watering $280.8 million in total compensation, although much of this was due to a long-term stock incentive rather than a major bump in salary. He helped the home good retailer along to revenue of $12.5 billion. His pay ratio was 5,702 to 1, according to Equilar.
Ricks, on the other hand, with his $36.7 million pay package, oversaw a year where Lilly’s revenue hit $65 billion, a 45% increase over the year prior.
See below for more CEO pay ratios.
