Joe Jimenez is Big Pharma's new 'Scrooge'. The CEO of the Swiss pharmaceutical group, who on 1 February 2010 took over from the historic CEO Daniel Vasella who remained chairman, collected in 2010 a fee of over 11.7 million francs: around 9 million euros, the highest salary highest of all Swiss managers. Of the total amount received – reads the 2010 Annual Report distributed yesterday in Basel – around 1.5 million is in cash, while the rest includes the variable amount and other indemnities. As for Vasella, known in the industry for his golden salaries and notably absent from this year's annual financial conference, in his single role as chairman he pocketed a paycheck of 'only' 7.95 million francs in 2010, clearly lighter than that of last year which counted 20.5 million. As for the business strategy of his company, Jimenez assures that Novartis remains "always attentive to possible market opportunities. Despite the Alcon operation we keep a careful eye on the market", also thanks to a cash flow increased in 2010 by 31% to 12, 3 billion dollars. The value of the companies that could end up in the sights of the Rhenish giant is "between 500 million and 1 billion dollars", specifies the manager.
Paola Olgiati – Pharmakronos – January 28, 2011
