Stryker increases pay for top execs; median employee wage drops

A portrait of Stryker Chair, CEO and President Kevin Lobo.

Stryker Chair, CEO and President Kevin Lobo [Photo courtesy of Stryker]

Stryker reported $47.4 million in pay to its top five executives in 2024, including $22 million in total compensation for Stryker Chair, CEO and President Kevin Lobo.

At the same time, the device developer and manufacturer said pay for its median employee dropped slightly year-over-year.

Stryker was the world’s fifth-largest medical device company in our 2024 Medtech Big 100 ranking by revenue, with $20.5 billion in revenue for 2023. Stryker reported sales of $22.6 billion for fiscal 2024 (ended Dec. 31, 2024), up 10% from 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.

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Stryker executive pay

Lobo received total compensation of $22 million in 2024. This includes a salary of $1.4 million, stock awards of $8.7 million, option awards of $8 million and cash bonuses of $2.9 million.

Lobo also received other compensation equal to $897,865, including $321,957 for personal and family flights aboard corporate aircraft, $538,733 for supplemental plan contributions and $35,650 worth of 401(k) contributions.

Lobo’s total compensation increased 6% from $20.8 million in 2023.

A portrait of Stryker CFO Glenn Boehnlein.

Glenn Boehnlein [Photo courtesy of Stryker]

Stryker VP and CFO Glenn Boehnlein received total compensation of $7.3 million in 2024. This includes a salary of $793,334, stock awards of $2.7 million, option awards of $2.5 million, cash bonuses of $1.1 million, and other compensation amounting to $237,747.

Boehnlein’s total compensation increased 7% from $6.8 million in 2023.

Stryker MedSurg and Neurotechnology Group President Andy Pierce received total compensation of $6.8 million in 2024. This includes a salary of $750,000, stock awards of $2.5 million, option awards of $2.3 million, cash bonuses of $917,325, and other compensation totaling $211,695.

Pierce’s total compensation increased 4% from $6.5 million in 2023.

Spencer Stiles, Stryker group president of orthopedics and spine

Spencer Stiles [Photo courtesy of Stryker]

Stryker Orthopaedics and Spine Group President Spencer Stiles also received total compensation of $6.8 million in 2024. This includes a salary of $750,000, stock awards of $2.5 million, option awards of $2.3 million, cash bonuses of $917,325, and other compensation totaling $211,695.

Stiles’ total compensation increased 4% from $6.5 million in 2023.

Stryker Global Quality and Operations Group President Viju Menon received total compensation of $4.6 million in 2024. This includes a salary of $645,833, stock awards of $1.6 million, option awards of $1.4 million, cash bonuses of $745,875, and other compensation worth $176,229.

Menon’s total compensation increased 3% from $4.5 million in 2023.

Stryker’s executive compensation objective is “to provide a total compensation package that allows us to continue to attract, motivate and retain talented executives who drive our company’s success while aligning compensation with the interests of our shareholders and the achievement of our key business objectives,” the company said in the filing.

“Consistent with this philosophy, a significant percentage of the total compensation opportunity for each of our [named executive officers] is based on measurable corporate financial performance and on the performance of our shares on a long-term basis,” the company continued.

Stryker’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.

Stryker calculated its median employee wage at $83,642, relatively flat from the year before ($84,028) and up about 6% from $79,194 for 2022.

The latest median employee pay figure put Stryker’s CEO pay at 263 times more than its median employee’s pay. That pay gap widened from 247:1 the year before and 234:1 in 2022.

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.

Stryker shareholders to vote on pay and political disclosures

Stryker investors will cast advisory “say-on-pay” votes on the company’s executive compensation practices at the May 8 annual meeting. Shareholders overwhelmingly voted in support of the company’s executive pay the year before.

Stryker is also recommending investors vote against a shareholder proposal from activist investor John Chevedden to require twice-yearly disclosures of political spending. Stryker says this measure is unnecessary because it already discloses political spending and lobbying expenses in its annual comprehensive report.

In that latest report, Stryker said it spent $690,000 on federal lobbying in 2024, but that it “neither operates nor contributes to a political action committee, and we do not make political contributions at the United States federal or state level.”

Stryker also disclosed membership dues for three U.S. trade associations: $1.28 million for AdvaMed, $200,000 for the Healthcare Leadership Council and $135,244 for the Medical Device Manufacturers Association.