When Pfizer vice chair Karen Katen got passed over in her bid to become chair of the giant drug maker, she prepared to bail out and will leave the company at the end of this month. The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog rummaged through an SEC proxy statement to add up her compensation package: “Katen’s eligible for a pension accrued over a 32-year career that, if taken as a lump sum, would be worth about $40.7 million. Her 401(k) retirement savings plan and some deferred stock are worth another $21.8 million. Add in bonuses, previously disclosed severance of $5.5 million, some stock awards and the like and you come up with the balance of the $76.8 million.” She will get an additional $178,000 for unused vacations.
Sounds like a lot, but as the Health Blog points out, Karen’s pay out seems like small potatoes compared with former chair Henry “Hank” McKinnell, who got $200 million on his departure.
