Laval, Quebec, Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals has faced considerable scrutiny over its price increases and accounting practices — making executive retention a major point of concern.
But Valeant has a plan to retain its leaders — by paying them hefty bonuses. A regulatory filing revealed the company is paying $10.8 million in bonuses to three executives this year, as first reported by STAT. While the retention bonuses may satisfy the wallets of those executives, they are sparking a whole new set of criticisms against the company.
This is because many critics see the bonuses as direct benefits from the company's price hikes.
"We are surprised by these bonuses as we believe this opens the company up to criticism of being brazen in the face of public and government scrutiny for pricing practices," Wells Fargo analyst David Maris wrote in an investor note, according to STAT. "It is not hard to see the criticism that the retention bonuses are being paid with money Valeant gained through excessive price increases and being paid to executives who in part helped oversee these pricing programs."
Including both the retention bonuses and special equity awards, Valeant's Company Group Chairman and Executive Vice President Ari Kellen, MBBCh, will receive $4.8 million in bonuses, its CFO and Executive Vice President Robert Rosiello will receive $3.8 million in bonuses, and its other Company Group Chairman and Executive Vice President Anne Whitaker will receive $2.25 million, according to the filing.
More articles on leadership and management:
Government intervention: Boon or burden for healthcare? CNN's David Gregory and executives from Banner, Northwestern, Prism weigh in
UCLA Health leader, healthcare futurist speak at C-Suite Invitational in LA
Joint Commission appoints Dr. Desmond Thio to board of directors