Alcon sells the the Hydrus Microstent nitinol implant to treat glaucoma in conjunction with cataract surgery. [Image courtesy of Alcon]
The Geneva, Switzerland-based eye care product developer and manufacturer increased its fiscal 2027 executive pay budget to CHF 47 million (approximately $60 million at today’s exchange rates), compared to CHF 43 million the year before.
Previously: Alcon makes its case on executive pay after lack of investor support
While investor “say-on-pay” votes on executive compensation are only advisory for publicly traded companies in the U.S., Swiss law requires shareholder approval for a maximum aggregate amount of compensation for its executive committee.
Alcon is the world’s 16th-largest medical device company, according to our 2025 Medtech Big 100 ranking by revenue. That ranking was based on Alcon’s 2024 revenue of $9.8 billion. The company reported revenue of $10.3 billion for fiscal 2025 (ended Dec. 31, 2025).
Recruiting and retaining top talent — both at the executive and engineering level — is crucial in the medtech industry, but employee compensation is kept secret in most cases. Medical Design & Outsourcing tracks and analyzes these pay figures when disclosed by major device developers and manufacturers.
Alcon’s board requested the budget increase to “allow flexibility to attract and retain best-in-class expertise in strategically relevant competencies in medical device and ophthalmology industries.”
The new budget “will allow us to address the competitive landscape and transatlantic pay gap,” Alcon said in a brochure sent to shareholders ahead of its April 30 say-on-pay meeting.
More than three quarters of its executives come from medical device and pharmaceutical companies and approximately 70% of those are from the U.S., the company said.
Alcon said its overall performance for 2025 was “below target … due to the headwinds of a dynamic global environment, tariffs, trade uncertainties and early-year softness in the surgical market, while free cash flow exceeded expectations.”
Alcon executive pay
Alcon CEO David Endicott [Photo courtesy of Alcon]
Endicott’s compensation included a $1.4 million salary, $1.2 million in short-term incentives, $7.5 million in long-term (2025-2027) incentives and $203,187 worth of pension and insurance contributions.
He also received $1.2 million in other compensation, including company benefits such as transportation expenses, a car allowance and global mobility benefits for international assignments.
Alcon did not disclose pay for other executives, but said the other six members of the Executive Committee of Alcon (ECA) received a combined total of $28 million, down 3% from the year before.
That included $5.2 million in salaries, $3.5 million in short-term incentives, $10.4 million in long-term incentives, $938,601 worth of pension and insurance contributions and $7.9 million in other compensation.
Those six ECA members (other than Endicott) are:
- Alcon SVP, Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Licensing (BD&L) and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Laurent Attias
- Alcon SVP and Chief Operating Officer Ian Bell
- Alcon SVP and Americas President Sergio Duplan
- Alcon SVP and Chief Human Resources and Corporate Communications Officer Kim Martin
- Alcon SVP and International President Rajkumar Narayanan
- Alcon SVP and CFO Tim Stonesifer
Alcon did not change Endicott’s target compensation in 2025, but all other ECA members received compensation increases, the filing said.
“We benchmark ECA compensation against a consistent blended peer group of International and U.S.headquartered companies (42% international and 58% U.S.) with similar characteristics of size, industry, business mix and global footprint,” Alcon Board Chair Mike Ball and Compensation Committee Chair Karen May wrote in the say-on-pay brochure. “Although Alcon is headquartered in Switzerland, a significant portion of our sales, management team and associate population are in the U.S. The U.S. is the largest pool for both medical device and ophthalmology talent, and it is therefore critical that Alcon is able to attract and retain key talent from the U.S.”
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