Moderna CEO criticised for earning 12k times of a minimum wage worker
In 2022, CEO Stephane Bancel made about $393 mn by exercising stock options. In addition, he earned a $1.5 mn salary - a 50% jump from 2021
New York: Moderna CEO has drawn criticism for making more than 12,000 times of what a minimum wage worker made in 2022. In 2022, CEO Stephane Bancel made about $393 million by exercising stock options. In addition, securities filings from March revealed that he earned a $1.5 million salary - a 50 per cent jump from 2021.
"Moderna handed over $4 billion to shareholders during the Covid-19 pandemic, after extracting more than $10 billion from US taxpayers. Last year, Moderna's CEO pocketed nearly $400 million, equivalent to almost $189,000 an hour, more than 12,000 times what a minimum wage worker makes in the company's home state," said Mohga Kamal-Yanni from the People's Vaccine Alliance, in a statement.
However, the company defended the raises for Bancel and others as "reflective of merit", The Washington Post reported. The US pharma giant Moderna, known for its lifesaving coronavirus vaccine, pointed out that shareholders have done well and overwhelmingly approved its compensation plan last year.
