The leader of drug maker AbbVie Inc. ( ABBV ) received total compensation valued at $7.9 million for 2012, up more than 40% from a year earlier. The compensation for AbbVie Chief Executive Richard A. Gonzalez was largely for his role as executive vice president of the pharmaceutical products group of Abbott Laboratories ( ABT ). AbbVie, which sells the blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug Humira, was spun out of Abbott Labs as an independent company on Jan. 1. Mr. Gonzalez, 59, received a salary of $863,942, stock awards valued at $3.3 million and a performance-based bonus of $2.5 million for his work in 2012, according to AbbVie’s proxy statement filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Gonzalez’s annual bonus was based on the achievement by Abbott’s pharmaceutical unit of several financial targets including adjusted earnings per share, sales and profit margins. In addition, he was rewarded for executing a commercial plan, bolstering the drug research-and-development pipeline, and helping to separate AbbVie from Abbott. Mr. Gonzalez’s total compensation for 2012 was exceeded by another senior AbbVie officer: Laura J. Schumacher, who serves as general counsel and executive vice president of business development and external affairs. Ms. Schumacher received total compensation valued at $10.2 million for 2012, up more than 80% from 2011, according to the proxy.
