Johnson & Johnson discloses exec pay and new security measures

Johnson & Johnson reported smaller pay packages for three of its top-paid executives in a compensation disclosure that now includes pay for the new leader of its medical device business.

J&J also said pay decreased for the pharmaceutical and medical device company’s median worker and that the pay gap narrowed between that employee and the CEO.

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.

The J&J MedTech business is the world’s second-largest medical device company, according to our 2024 Medtech Big 100 ranking by revenue.

The company also offered new details on security expenses for executives, which include secure company cars with armed drivers, cybersecurity monitoring, and home security costs.

J&J now requires its CEO to use company aircraft for all personal and business travel effective December 2024 “as part of an internal security assessment conducted because of increased threats.” The CEO must also use a company car with an armed driver for all business and personal travel, including commuting.

J&J did not specifically reference the December 2024 shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York.

J&J said its board of directors “believes it is important to provide home and personal security to our named executive officers due to the nature of our healthcare business, the company’s internal review of our security protocols and risks, and because the board believes our executives should not be placed at personal risk due to their association with the company,” J&J said in the disclosure, later adding, “We may, based on ongoing review and advice from security experts, decide to provide additional security services to our executives as determined to be necessary and in the best interest of the company and our shareholders.”

Johnson & Johnson executive pay

A photo of Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato.

Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato [Photo courtesy of Johnson & Johnson]

J&J Chair and CEO Joaquin Duato — who oversees both the medical device and pharmaceutical businesses — received total compensation of $24.3 million in 2024, down 14% from $28.4 million the year before.

Duato’s 2024 pay package included a $1.6 million salary, stock awards of $10.8 million, option awards of $4.9 million, cash bonuses of nearly $4 million and a $2.7 million change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings.

He also received $248,160 in other compensation, including $145,381 worth of personal use of corporate aircraft and $102,779 for personal and home security.

J&J’s second-highest-paid executive in 2024 was EVP and CFO Joseph Wolk at $12.6 million, down 9& from $13.9 the year before. Wolk’s pay included a $1.2 million salary, stock awards of $5.8 million, option awards of $2.6 million, cash bonuses of $1.8 million, a $1.1 million change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings, and other compensation of $98,624.

J&J EVP and MedTech Worldwide Chair Tim Schmid was paid $11.9 million in 2024, including a salary of $896,308, $3 million in stock awards, option awards of $1.4 million, cash bonuses of $1.4 million, and a $1.1 million change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings.

A photo of Johnson & Johnson EVP and J&J MedTech Worldwide Chair Tim Schmid.

Johnson & Johnson EVP and J&J MedTech Worldwide Chair Tim Schmid [Photo courtesy of Johnson & Johnson]

Schmid — the former group chair of J&J MedTech Asia Pacific who replaced Ashley McEvoy as leader of the medtech business in 2023 — also received nearly $4.1 million in other compensation, mostly for costs to move from Singapore to the U.S.

That other compensation included $3.8 million in tax assistance related to his move to the U.S., with J&J saying Schmid was “taxed on the full value of all of his outstanding unvested options, RSU, and PSU awards, as well as his unexercised options that had already vested” when he left Singapore.

J&J disclosed an additional $198,649 for relocation expenses, which J&J described as “our standard international executive relocation package, which included airfare between Singapore and the company’s offices, a corporate apartment, dependent tuition, and relocation expenses.”

J&J did not disclose Schmid’s pay for 2023, but said his base salary increased from $900,000 in 2024 to $950,000 in 2025.

J&J EVP and Innovative Medicine Worldwide Chair Jennifer Taubert received $11.2 million in total compensation for 2024, down 2% from $11 million the year before. Taubert’s 2024 compensation included a $1.2 million salary, stock awards of $4.7 million, option awards of $2.1 million, cash bonuses of $1.9 million, a $1.2 million change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings, and other compensation of $62,568.

J&J EVP of Innovative Medicine and R&D Dr. John Reed received $9.3 million in total compensation, down 55% from $20.6 million the year before (which included a $5.7 million signing bonus and stock awards of $11.7 million). Reed’s 2024 compensation included a $1.2 million, stock awards of $4 million, option awards of $1.8 million, a $441,000 change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings and other compensation of $190,003.

“We believe our executive compensation program promotes long-term value creation and aligns our executives’ interests with our shareholders’ interests,” J&J said in the disclosure. “Pay for performance, accountability for short-term and long-term performance, alignment with shareholders’ interests and market competitiveness are our guiding principles. We assess our executives’ performance by reviewing what objectives they achieved and how they achieved those results. Specifically, whether they achieved the results consistent with the values embodied in Our Credo.”

Johnson & Johnson median worker pay and CEO pay ratio

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires publicly traded companies like J&J to calculate the gap between CEO compensation and pay for its median employee.

J&J estimated its median employee wage at $83,000, down from $84,000 the year before. J&J said part of that decline was due to the “net effect of changes in currency exchange rates,” and without those changes, the median pay would have been $87,000.

That median wage and Duato’s $24.3 million pay package puts J&J’s CEO pay at 293 times more than the median worker, compared to a 338:1 ratio the year before.

J&J said that ratio is likely a conservative estimate and that the true pay gap between the CEO and median worker may be narrower.

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.