Eli Lilly defended its CEO David Rix’s $36.7 million compensation shortly before filing a proxy statement with the SEC.
Since Ricks took over in 2017, Lilly has “experienced approximately 207% revenue growth” and “five-year total shareholder return of 571%,” the company wrote, touting his accomplishments. The Indianapolis drugmaker could have further accelerated its massive rise in market capitalization. It grew from $82 billion when Ricks took over to more than $1 trillion last year, when Lilly became the first company in the biopharmaceutical industry to achieve this milestone.
Specifically, for 2025, Lilly’s 45% revenue growth rate was three times that of the other top 25 biopharmaceutical companies, and was driven almost entirely by sales of the company’s GLP-1 products Mounjaro and Zepbound. In 2025, the companies’ combined sales of tirzepatide will be $36.5 billion, up from $16.5 billion in 2024. This $20 billion year-over-year difference accounted for nearly all of Lilly’s overall sales increase from $45 billion in 2024 to $65.2 billion in 2025.
Ricks’ compensation in 2025 increased from $29.2 million in 2024 and $26.6 million in 2023. After becoming CEO on January 1, 2017, his compensation was $15.8 million.
Here’s a breakdown of Ricks’ 2025 package: Stock compensation was $23.3 million, up from $19.8 million in 2024. The bonus is $6.8 million, up from $5.7 million in 2024. His annual base salary will be $1.7 million, consistent with 2024 numbers. Additionally, the change in his pension value increased from $1.7 million last year to $4.5 million in 2025.
Lilly said in its proxy statement that while it kept its annual cash bonus target for other executives at 100%, it increased Rix’s annual target from 150% to 175% last year to “maintain market competitiveness.”
Lilly’s next highest-paid executive was chief scientific officer Daniel Skovronski, MD, who received a package of $17.8 million, up from $12.6 million in 2024.
Jake Van Naarden, head of business development and Lilly’s oncology division, raised $7.6 million, and head of legal affairs Anif Halim raised $9.8 million. Lucas Montals raised $8.5 million in his first full year as chief financial officer.
Ricks’ package is likely to make him the highest-paid CEO of a major pharmaceutical company in 2025. Last year, he was No. 2 on Fierce’s list of highest-paid CEOs, behind BioNTech’s Ugur Sahin, who earned $287 million from cashing out the company’s stock acquired during the pandemic.
Lilly also revealed that Ricks would receive $93.9 million in severance pay if he were suddenly fired.
