Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks received $36.7 million in total compensation for 2025, representing a 26% increase from the previous year, according to a Jun. 30 report. Ricks’ pay rise came as Eli Lilly experienced a 45% revenue increase to $65 billion and saw its market capitalization briefly reach $1 trillion.
Ricks was one of three pharmaceutical chief executives whose compensation exceeded $30 million in 2025. The other top earners included Joaquin Duato of Johnson & Johnson, Robert Michael of AbbVie, Daniel O’Day of Gilead Sciences, and Albert Bourla of Pfizer.
The report also examined gender representation among the highest-paid CEOs. While men dominated the list, GSK’s Emma Walmsley stood out as the highest-earning woman after receiving $21.2 million—a 55% increase over her previous year’s pay—before stepping down at year-end to be replaced by Luke Miels. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Reshma Kewalramani earned slightly less at $21.1 million for the year.
In terms of base salary and stock awards, Ricks received a base salary of $1.7 million and stock awards totaling $23.3 million for 2025. Walmsley’s base salary was reported at $1.9 million with stock awards amounting to $13.6 million.
The analysis further explored how CEO pay compared to median employee salaries within these companies. Johnson & Johnson’s Duato had the highest pay ratio at 358 to 1; his total compensation reached $32.6 million, while the average company employee earned about $91,000 annually in comparison for that period. At Eli Lilly, Ricks had a ratio of 293 to 1 between his earnings and those of median employees.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals presented one of the lowest disparities: Kewalramani earned just eighty times more than her company’s median worker salary—the highest among surveyed firms at nearly $264,500 per employee.
