These 10 Medtech CEOs Make the Most

Qmed analyzed SEC filings for some of the the medical device industry's largest companies. Read on to find out which CEOs received the most total compensation.

Chris Newmarker

Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak was the best compensated among the medical device industry's top executives over the past year, mostly because of $25.6 million he received to help him pay his taxes after the company's $48 billion merger with Covidien.

Among 18 companies publicly traded in the U.S., average total compensation for CEOs was $15.4 million and average salary was $1.3 million. But there was a large spread.

Here are the 10 best compensated CEOs, according to a Qmed analysis of proxy statements filed with the SEC:

Omar Ishrak, Medtronic

Total compensation: $39.5 Million

Salary: $1.5 Million

CEO since 2011

Ishrak saw his total compensation skyrocket during the fiscal year ended April 24, up from $12.1 million the previous fiscal year.

About $25.6 million of the compensation in the recent fiscal year was to help Ishrak pay for the special U.S. excise taxes he and other top Medtronic executives personally owed after the January closing of Medtronic's acquisition of Covidien. (Here's a timeline of the deal.)

Such excise taxes came on top of capital gains taxes that Ishrak and all other existing Medtronic shareholders owed after the deal had them swapping the old Medtronic stock for stock in the new Medtronic plc. "The payments are required to neutralize the effect of the excise tax so that [named executive officers] were neither harmed by, nor benefited from, the transaction," Medtronic says in its proxy statement.

Jeffrey Immelt, GE

Total compensation: $37.3 Million

Salary: $3.8 Million

CEO since 2001

It makes sense that Immelt would be near the top of the list, especially since General Electric is one of the largest companies in the world with $148.6 billion in annual revenues. Only $18.3 billion of that revenue came from GE Healthcare, but the amount still makes GE one of the largest medical device companies in the world.

In GE's most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, Immelt actually saw his total compensation nearly double from about $20.0 million the previous fiscal year. Much of the change was due to changes in how GE is estimating the value of Immelt's pension, some of it based on the Society of Actuaries' recent issuance of new mortality tables projecting longer life expectancies.

Alex Gorsky, J&J

Total compensation: $25.0 Million

Salary: $1.5 Million

CEO since 2012

Gorsky's total compensation was up 48% for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2014, from $16.9 million the previous fiscal year. As with Immelt, much of the change was due to changes in the value of Gorsky's pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings, which rose to $4.6 million from $1.7 million the previous fiscal year.

Stephen MacMillan, Hologic

Total compensation: $24.5 Million

Salary: $792,308

CEO since 2013

Recruitment incentives to bring MacMillan to Hologic in December 2013 allowed him to enjoy a sizable total compensation during Hologic's fiscal year ended September 27, 2014. Much of the extra compensation came from $15.3 million in stock awards under MacMillan's employment agreement, including a special matching stock grant valued at $5.2 million at the time it was granted in March 2014.

Stock awards have likely been serving MacMillan well. Hologic saw its stock value rise a whopping 45% during the first nine months of 2015. The Bedford, MA-based medtech company says it has been seeing accelerated adoption of its FDA-approved Genius 3D mammography systems.. Hologic boasts that the 3-D imaging is able to detect 41% more invasive cancers than standard 2-D imaging.

Inge Thulin, 3M Co.

Total compensation: $20.1 Million

Salary: $1.4 Million

CEO since 2012

As with GE, 3M Co. is a huge multinational manufacturer active in many areas. 3M's Health Care business made up $5.6 billion out of the company's $31.8 billion in sales in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014. Thulin's total compensation was up in a variety of areas; he made $16.4 million the year before.

3M board's compensation committee actually requires Thulin to use corporate aircraft for all business and personal travel, which came to $158,243 in compensation for the most recent fiscal year.

Miles White, Abbott Labs

Total compensation: $17.3 Million

Salary: $2.0 Million

CEO since 1999

White's total compensation was actually down a bit during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014; he received $20.9 million the year before. White's option awards were valued at $4.6 million, down from $7.1 million the year before.

Robert Parkinson Jr., Baxter

Total compensation: $15.3 Million

Salary: $1.5 Million

CEO since 2004

Parkinson's $15.3 million in total compensation for the year ended December 31, 2014, was actually a bit lower than the $16.2 million he received the year before. The major reason was fewer stock option dollars. 

George Barrett, Cardinal Health

Total compensation: $12.4 Million

Salary: $1.3 Million

CEO since 2009

Barrett's total compensation has steadily grown in recent years. The $12.4 million he made for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014, was up from $11.5 million in fiscal year 2013 and $11.2 million in fiscal year 2012.

Vincent Forlenza, BD

Total compensation: $11.0 Million

Salary: $985,000

CEO since 2011

Stock and option awards made up most of the growth in compensation that Forlenza saw during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014, which was up to $11.0 million from $9.2 million a year before.

Timothy Ring, C.R. Bard

Total compensation: $10.8 Million

Salary: $1.1 Million

CEO since 2003

Ring's annual salary has remained unchanged at $1.1 million in recent years, but total stock and option awards have allowed his total compensation to grow anyway. His $10.8 million in total compensation for the year ended December 31, 2014, was up from $9.4 million in fiscal year 2013 and $8.8 million in fiscal year 2012.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

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