Ludwig Hantson became the CEO of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) in 2017. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at other large companies. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
See our latest analysis for Alexion Pharmaceuticals
How Does Ludwig Hantson's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
Our data indicates that Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is worth US$25b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$16m for the year to December 2018. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$1.2m. Importantly, there may be performance hurdles relating to the non-salary component of the total compensation. When we examined a group of companies with market caps over US$8.0b, we found that their median CEO total compensation was US$11m. (We took a wide range because the CEOs of massive companies tend to be paid similar amounts - even though some are quite a bit bigger than others).
It would therefore appear that Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. pays Ludwig Hantson more than the median CEO remuneration at large companies, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, below.
Is Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Growing?
Over the last three years Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 36% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 21%.
Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
Since shareholders would have lost about 8.0% over three years, some Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.
In Summary...
We examined the amount Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by other large companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.