The story of former Valeant Pharmaceuticals CEO J. Michael Pearson’s tenure can serve as a cautionary tale to companies across all industries who think that following best practices in corporate governance can completely safeguard them against disaster. Pearson received a multi-million dollar compensation package, composed of salary, stock and option awards, and bonuses. Within his compensation package, also, were performance stock-related goals that would reward Pearson upon meeting specified total shareholder return (TSR) targets.
