The Ethos Foundation recommends rejecting all remuneration-related items at the Annual General Meeting on 6 March 2026 in Basel. The CEO's realized remuneration for 2025 is particularly excessive.
CHF 24.9 million, or approximately 295 times the median salary in Switzerland (full-time equivalent). This is the actual remuneration received by Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan for the 2025 financial year. It is more than two and a half times what he received in 2018 when he took over the reins of the pharmaceutical company and 30% more than in 2024 (CHF 19.2 million).
This realised remuneration includes his base salary (CHF 1.9 million), his 2025 annual bonus (CHF 5.1 million) and the value of the long-term share-based compensation plan awarded to him in 2023 and vesting in 2025 (CHF 17.3 million).
Ethos therefore recommends that shareholders vote against all items on the agenda relating to remuneration at the Annual General Meeting to be held on 6 March in Basel. In addition to the remuneration report (item 5.3), Ethos recommends voting against the CHF 95 million requested for the remuneration of the ten members of the executive management in 2027 (item 5.2) and against the CHF 8.2 million requested for the 12 members of the board of directors (item 5.1).
Variable remuneration equivalent to eleven times the base salary
Although Novartis performed well financially in 2025, with a 17% increase in profits, Ethos considers such remuneration levels to be excessive. The CEO's variable remuneration for 2025 amounts to CHF 22.3 million, which is 11.8 times his base salary.
Compared to the remuneration of the CEOs of the ten largest companies listed on the Swiss stock exchange, the Novartis CEO’s remuneration is more than 50% above the median. This gap increases to 80% when based on the 15 largest European companies in the healthcare sector.
“We regret that Novartis has chosen to compare itself mainly with North American companies when setting the remuneration of its executives,’ says Vincent Kaufmann, CEO of Ethos. While it is understandable that a company of its size, which has many competitors in the United States, may pay relatively high salaries to retain its key talent, the levels reached in recent years are excessive and difficult to justify.”
The remuneration of the members of the board of directors is also significantly higher than that of the members of the boards of the ten largest Swiss companies by market capitalisation (34% above the median for the chairman and 29% above the median on average for the other members of the board).
Context of generalised increases
The increase at Novartis is part of a general trend of rising executive remuneration in Switzerland and internationally. The average remuneration of CEOs of the 20 SMI companies was CHF 8.3 million in 2024, representing a 7% increase compared to 2023 (CHF 7.7 million). For the 26 companies in the SMIM, the increase is even more significant, with the average CEO remuneration rising from CHF 3.1 million in 2023 to CHF 4.3 million in 2024 (+37%).
“We have entered a pattern of continuous increases in executive remuneration that is completely disconnected from the economic realities of multinationals' stakeholders”, continues Vincent Kaufmann. “As far as Novartis is concerned, there is an urgent need to review the remuneration system if we are to avoid inflationary pressures on executive salaries.”
As usual, Ethos will publish all its voting recommendations for listed companies on its website five days before their AGM.
