• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
FinanceValeant

Valeant’s New CEO Joe Papa Has a $17 Billion Ultimatum

By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 29, 2017, 6:01 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Nobody said it would be easy to rescue Valeant Pharmaceuticals—nor cheap.

Valeant paid its new CEO Joe Papa a fat paycheck worth nearly $63 million in 2016, according to the company’s recently disclosed proxy statement. On the surface, Papa seems to have gotten an extraordinarily generous deal to turn around the beleaguered drug company: Not only is his salary more than twice what it was when he was CEO of Perrigo (PRGO), a company nearly three times as valuable as Valeant (VRX), it’s also especially good considering Valeant’s stock price has fallen nearly 67% since he took over.

But there’s a catch. Papa doesn’t actually get to keep the vast majority of that money unless he pulls off a truly heroic feat with Valeant’s stock price, a maneuver so seemingly impossible that the accomplishment would not only make him a darling on Wall Street, but it could put him in the hall of fame of corporate turnaround artists. (Meanwhile, Valeant’s former CEO Michael Pearson, who preceded Papa, is suing the company for withholding $32 million in pay he claims he is owed.)

In fact, in order for Papa to even keep half of his paycheck, he has to nearly quadruple Valeant’s stock price. And if he wants to keep all of his pay, Valeant stock will have to rise 460% from its current level in just a little more than three years. That means Valeant would need to trade at or above $60 a share, putting its market cap at $20.5 billion, or about $17 billion more than it is now.

After witnessing a 95% decline in the pharmaceutical company’s share price amid a series of scandals, Valeant’s board, led by former shareholder and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, smartly tied Papa’s compensation to a recovery in the stock price. The bulk of Papa’s pay, in the form of performance-based stock grants, is contingent upon Valeant’s share price surpassing certain price hurdles, with $60 as the minimum to receive any of that incentive compensation.

That makes the job for Papa, who was hired away from Perrigo to run Valeant in May 2016, both high-risk and high-reward: While he’ll forfeit tens of millions of dollars if he can’t hit the $60 target, if he somehow manages to take Valeant’s stock to new highs above $270 a share, he stands to make about $800 million over four years—likely more than all of his CEO peers combined.

Of course, getting there looked a lot easier when Papa took the CEO job last April, when Valeant stock was trading around $35 a share. Now, with shares trading at $10.70 on Tuesday, 60 bucks looks much farther away. Here’s how tall an order Papa has: In order to reach $60, Valeant stock would have to double from its current price, then double again, and then rise another 40% on top of that, all in the next three years. That kind of return is not unheard of—a handful of Fortune 500 companies managed to triple or quadruple their stock prices last year alone—but it’s very, very rare.

Indeed, when Papa was hired, he also received stock options valued at $10 million of his 2016 pay. But as Valeant’s share price is now below their exercise price of $23.92, those options are currently “underwater,” or worthless.

Because the performance-based stock grants also aren’t worth anything until Valeant stock hits $60, the current value of Papa’s paycheck last year is much lower, or about $14.7 million. (That includes his salary, a $1 million performance bonus and $8 million signing bonus, and time-based stock grants that are currently valued at $4 million.) The time-based stock award is also a one-time grant meant to last four years, according to Valeant, meaning the annualized value of Papa’s pay was only $11.7 million in 2016.

That’s not even a 2% raise over the $11.5 million Papa made at Perrigo in 2015. And it’s certainly not the kind of promotion a CEO of a public company typically leaves his job for, as Papa did, especially for a crisis situation like Valeant in need of a rescue.

To unlock the real money, Papa really needs to get Valeant’s stock to $60 a share—or ideally higher. Even if Valeant shares trade at $59.99, the most he could make is $74.6 million over four years, or $18.7 million per year, assuming he maxes out his cash bonus. That’s certainly respectable and roughly in line with what pharmaceutical CEOs at Eli Lilly (LLY), Pfizer (PFE) and AbbVie (ABBV) made last year.

As soon as the stock ticks above $60, though, Papa immediately picks up another $15 million. If Valeant hits $150 a share, Papa gets to keep 100% of the allotted performance-based stock awards, making his total pay balloon to about $300 million, or a whopping $75 million per year. At that price, Valeant would have a market cap of more than $51 billion, and Papa would have increased the value of the company by nearly $48 billion.

Then there’s the scenario Papa and Valeant’s shareholders may only dare dream about. Investors who rode Valeant up with Bill Ackman in 2015 before its downward spiral will remember a day in August that summer when the stock reached an all-time high of about $264. The company’s board put a special provision in Papa’s employment agreement that turbocharges his pay the way a videogame might when a player levels up into bonus points mode: If Valeant’s stock price reaches a new high of at least $270 a share in the next three years, Papa gets double the allotment of performance-based stock.

At that price, he would collect $800 million, or $200 million a year over four years—making more than the CEOs of more than a dozen major pharma companies are likely to be paid, combined. Valeant would also have a market value of more than $92 billion, more than that of drug makers including Allergan (AGN) or Gilead (GILD).

Investors aren’t exactly holding their breath for that outcome to materialize. Even Ackman, the Pershing Square hedge fund manager who long defended Valeant and once insisted it could be the next Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A), lost patience in waiting to make his money back when he sold his last shares in the company earlier this month. But if Papa can pull it off, not only will he be a much, much richer man, but he’ll earn a legendary reputation on Wall Street among Ackman and others who will wish they’d never doubted him in the first place.

About the Author
By Jen Wieczner
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Finance

dario
AIEconomics
Anthropic’s head of economics just explained why Anthropic’s CEO was wrong about a white-collar bloodbath
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 24, 2026
2 hours ago
pjm
EnergyData centers
The AI boom’s hidden electricity bill — and why you’re paying it
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 24, 2026
3 hours ago
j
AINvidia
Nvidia, Microsoft lead call for open-weight AI models after Kimi
By Michael Shepard and BloombergJuly 24, 2026
3 hours ago
Trump’s latest import taxes could set a precedent for a ‘broad tariff generator’ on anything a president wants to target, expert warns
LawTariffs
Trump’s latest import taxes could set a precedent for a ‘broad tariff generator’ on anything a president wants to target, expert warns
By Jason MaJuly 24, 2026
3 hours ago
Wealthy man in car
SuccessMillionaires
120 millionaires have signed a letter begging the British government to tax them more: ‘We can afford it’
By Emma BurleighJuly 24, 2026
5 hours ago
t
EnergyWhite House
Trump promises cheaper power from data centers. Analysts say bills could jump 40%
By Josh Boak, Matthew Daly and The Associated PressJuly 24, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
Big Tech
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
By Sydney LakeJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
Economy
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
By Eleanor PringleJuly 24, 2026
13 hours ago
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Economy
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
Personal Finance
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
By Joshua HongJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 24, 2026
11 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.