Boston Scientific Chair, President and CEO Mike Mahoney [Photo courtesy of Boston Scientific]
That’s the first time Boston Scientific has paid that much for a CEO since former President and CEO Ray Elliott made $33.5 million in his first year leading the company.
Under Mahoney’s leadership, Boston Scientific sales grew 18% to $16.7 billion last year. Boston Scientific was the world’s 11th-largest medical device company in Medical Design & Outsourcing‘s 2024 Medtech Big 100 ranking by revenue.
Boston Scientific also reported a rebound in its median employee’s pay after a large drop the year before.
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.
Engineering pay analysis: Results from our 2025 Engineering Salary Survey are available now
Boston Scientific executive pay
Mahoney’s $21.4 million in total compensation from Boston Scientific in 2024 was up 14% from $18.7 million the year before.
Mahoney’s latest pay package included a $1.4 million salary, $12.2 million in stock awards, $3.6 million in option awards, a $3.7 bonus and a $291,666 change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings. He also received 193,394 in other compensation, including 401(k) matches, term life insurance, financial planning services and $150,000 for personal use of corporate aircraft.
The second-highest-paid executive in 2024 was Boston Scientific EVP and CFO Daniel Brennan at $6.7 million, up 15% from the year before. Brennan’s 2024 pay included a salary of $843,146, stock awards of $3.3 million, option awards of $949,983, a $1.5 million bonus, a change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings of $134,862, and other compensation amounting to $25,148.
The third-highest-paid executive for 2024 was Boston Scientific EVP and Cardiology Group President Joseph Fitzgerald, who received total compensation of $6.3 million, up 13% from the year before. Fitzgerald’s 2024 pay included an $842,360 salary, stock awards of $3.1 million, option awards of $899,991, a $1.3 bonus, a change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings of $149,877, and other compensation amounting to $34,317.
The fourth-highest-paid executive for 2024 was Boston Scientific EVP and MedSurg and Asia Pacific Group President Arthur Butcher, who received total compensation of, $5 million, up 18% from the year before. Butcher’s 2024 pay included a $708,884 salary, stock awards of $2.4 million, option awards of $699,995, a $957,206 bonus, a change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings of $205,431, and other compensation amounting to $39,036.
The fifth-highest-paid executive for 2024 was Boston Scientific EVP and Peripheral Interventions President Jeffrey Mirviss, who received total compensation of $4 million, up 6% from the year before. His 2024 pay included a $680,411 salary, stock awards of $1.9 million, option awards of $549,993, a $770,627 bonus, a change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings of $89,996, and other compensation amounting to $48,092.
“We believe our emphasis on at-risk, performance-based incentive compensation — consisting of our [Annual Bonus Plan, or ABP] awards and long-term equity awards — aligns our executives with our business strategy and the short- and long-term interests of our stockholders, providing ‘pay for performance’ and putting a significant portion of our executives’ pay ‘at risk,'” the company said in the filing.
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Boston Scientific’s median worker pay and CEO pay ratio
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires publicly traded companies to calculate the gap between CEO compensation and pay for its median employee.
Boston Scientific said its median employee pay was $58,074 for 2024, up 7% from the year before but still well below the 2022 figure of $76,054.
The latest median employee pay figure put Boston Scientific’s CEO pay at 369 times more than its median employee’s pay. That pay gap widened from last year’s 346:1 ratio.
“We strive to pay our employees competitively compared to similar positions in the applicable labor market,” the company said in the filing. “We follow that approach worldwide, whether for an executive position or an hourly job at a local facility. We take into account location, job level and pay grade, time with us and time in current role, experience and skill set, and adjust compensation annually to match the applicable market. By doing so, we believe we maintain a high-quality, stable workforce.”
At other medtech companies that offer more details about their median workers than required by the SEC pay disclosure rules, those median medtech workers often hold technical roles such as device design or engineering.
Boston Scientific investors will cast advisory “say-on-pay” votes on the company’s executive compensation practices at the May 1 annual meeting. Shareholders overwhelmingly voted in support of Boston Scientific’s executive pay the year before.
More medtech compensation analysis for CEOs, top-paid executives and median workers
- GE HealthCare executive compensation plunges after one-time spinoff awards
- Zimmer Biomet discloses pay packages for top executives and its median employee
- Edwards Lifesciences reports $14.6M in pay for CEO’s first full year; median employee pay jumps
- BD reports pay increases for some execs, decreases for others
- Baxter CEO pay surged before his departure — along with the median employee’s wage
- Stryker increases pay for top execs, reports slightly lower wage for median employee
- Solventum paid CEO Bryan Hanson $40M in spinoff’s first year
- Intuitive Surgical discloses pay for execs and median workers while urging votes against shareholder proposals
- Abbott’s device leader got a big pay bump as sales surged
- Johnson & Johnson discloses executive pay and new security measures
- Cardinal Health CEO pay climbs to $25M; Median worker pay dropped
- Medtronic CEO pay jumps 30%, employment and median worker pay drop
- No bonuses for Penumbra execs despite growing sales 25% to $1B
- Integer discloses executive pay, including separation payments for ex-EVPs
- Outset Medical investors target executive pay after recalls and warning letter
- Pay drops for Medtronic CEO and the median employee; bonus plan changes
- BD limits executive severance after ‘golden parachute’ shareholder proposal overcomes board opposition
- Zimmer Biomet changes executive pay plans after shareholder vote
“Boston Scientific said its median employee pay was $58,074 for 2024, up 7% from the year before but still well below the 2022 figure of $76,054.”
Well folks, there it is in black and white. The pay is going up for the CEO and other executives, but median pay dropped significantly for the average employees. Nothing more than corporate greed disguised as altruistic healthcare offerings. I have heard from people who have worked for BS how terrible the lower employees are treated there.
I guess as long as their stock keeps going up, they have no problem spitting on the underlings from their ivory tower.