Former Teva Chair Says Teva Execs Should Get A Pay Cut, Too

The effort by Teva Pharmaceuticals to accelerate a $2 billion cost-cutting program by eliminating 5,000 jobs has met with stiff resistance in Israel, where the drugmaker is based and employs about 8,000 people, although about 800 of those jobs will go as part of the plan (back story). Workers at one plant are on strike and the head of the opposition Labor Party said executives should have taken a pay cut, too. Guess who agrees? Meir Heth, who was Teva chairman from 1994 until 2002 and served as a Teva board member from 1977 until 2009. He is also plain spoken. He was interviewed by Globes, the Israeli business news site, about the job cuts and did not have kind words for Teva chair Phillip Frost or ceo Jeremy Levin. What did he say? Well… “This was a public relations failure. It’s a shame that the announcement of the layoffs was not accompanied by announcement of a 10 percent pay cut for directors and executives. Had they been smart, they would have done that. And believe me, they could be reduced,” he says. “Last year, some of the (Teva) founders and I criticized the directors’ exorbitant salaries, but the general shareholders meeting approved them. We felt it unbecoming, that this was a sign of Teva’s loss of modesty.” For the record, Teva shareholders recently approved a 2013 compensation package for ceo Jeremy Levin of $1.5 million, plus a bonus of up to $3 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. As for Frost, Heth is...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs