After slashing jobs, Pfizer CEO Ian Read draws $25M

In his first year as head of Pfizer ($PFE), CEO Ian Read slashed more than $1.5 billion in R&D spending, eliminated more than 4,200 jobs and continued to look for ways to streamline the global pharmaceutical giant as it copes with generic competition for the (former) blockbuster cholesterol pill Lipitor. As Bloomberg reports, the board rewarded him with a $25 million paycheck. Broken down, that's $1.7 million for the basic salary, plus a $3.5 million cash bonus. Stocks, option awards, pension and additional benefits are also part of the equation, according to a regulatory filing cited by the news agency. Read, one of FierceBiotech's 25 most influential people in biopharma, made $17.4 million in 2010 prior to his promotion, the story notes. Board members have commented that they are focusing on performance-based compensation for top executives, despite shareholder concerns about the $24.7 million paycheck previous CEO Jeffrey Kindler received in his final year. And they said Read's salary boost corresponds with his new position as CEO. Story