Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla has yet to surpass the $33 million he earned in 2022 for sales of the company’s COVID-19 blockbuster, but his $27.6 million compensation package isn’t too shabby after a busy 2025.
Bourla’s 2025 compensation is his second-highest since taking the helm at Pfizer in 2019, topping last year’s $24.6 million. The CEO is credited with leading the pharmaceutical giant to “solid financial results” and setting the company up for “strong growth” toward the end of the decade, Pfizer said in its proxy statement (PDF).
Pfizer had a busy year, with 2025 sales of $62.5 billion, down 2% from 2024, as well as a landmark drug pricing agreement with the Trump administration and a GLP-1 bidding war that saw it escape from rival bidder Novo Nordisk to buy obesity biotech Metsala for $10 billion.
“This strategic milestone represents more than just a transaction; it is an intentional investment in the future of healthcare,” Bourla said of the Mezzara deal at the time.
Meanwhile, under the drug pricing agreement, Pfizer first agreed to reduce Medicaid prices to President Trump’s “most-favored nation” prices and offer its products on the government’s direct-to-consumer platform TrumpRx in exchange for a three-year moratorium on the administration’s drug import tariffs.
Both of these moves were designed to account for Bourla’s 2025 compensation increase, along with spearheading the company’s radical cost-cutting program that will save the company $5.7 billion by 2026.
The CEO received the same $1.8 million salary in 2024, plus $9.4 million in stock compensation and $9 million in options. A small change in pension amounts and $1.9 million in “all other compensation” joins the $5.4 million in annual incentive bonuses to make up the executive’s total compensation.
The company said 92% of Bourla’s compensation is performance-based. The pharmaceutical company’s compensation committee determined that Mr. Bourla had done an “excellent job leading the company to strong performance,” justifying the $5.4 million bonus.
The $1.9 million in Burla’s “all other compensation” category represents a notable increase from less than $1 million in 2024, and includes a sizable security fee of $610,650. Pfizer said this was due to “additional security protections” given to certain executives based on “heightened security risks, including threats to our executives.”
Mr. Bourla joined Pfizer in 1993 and was appointed CEO of Pfizer in 2019, followed by his appointment as Chairman of Pfizer’s Board of Directors in 2020. Following a review of the company’s leadership structure in late 2025, the company’s governance committee agreed that it was “in the best interest of the company and its shareholders” for Bourla to continue as board chairman in 2026, citing his “deep scientific, industry and regulatory expertise and extensive corporate knowledge.”
Elsewhere on Pfizer’s executive team, Chief Scientific Officer Chris Boshoff, MD, received $10 million in compensation for 2025, Chief Financial Officer Dave Denton received $9.7 million, Chief Legal Officer Doug Ranker received $9.1 million, and Chief Commercial Officer Aamir Malik received $9.4 million. Each executive received a raise from their respective 2024 compensation.
Mr. Bourla’s total salary is below the $30 million threshold some of them can advertise in 2025, with Johnson & Johnson’s Joaquin Duato collecting about $32.8 million and AbbVie’s Robert Michael collecting about $32.5 million. So far, Eli Lilly’s David Ricks holds the title of highest-paid pharmaceutical CEO in 2025 with a $36.7 million salary package.
