Investing.com -- Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) CEO Ian Read's total compensation package fell more than 20% in 2015 primarily due to a sharp reduction in stock awards over the calendar year.
In total, Read's compensation decreased by 23% to $18.037 million last year, down from approximately $24 million a year earlier. It came as Read's compensation through stock options and Total Shareholders Return Unit (TSRUs) exercises fell considerably to $2.879 million for the year.
Read, who became Pfizer's CEO in December, 2010, saw his base salary increase moderately to $1.859 million in 2016, up from $1.8 million a year earlier. Read's incentive award also rose to $4.3 million last year from $3 million in 2014.
Over the course of the year, Read said Pfizer advanced the company's drug pipeline by developing nearly 40 compounds and made significant advancements with its development of Xelianz, its Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment, Ibrance, its drug to treat metastic breast cancer and Prevanac, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.
"Every part of the business turned in a strong performance and achieved significant milestones across our four strategic imperatives," Read said in the company's annual 2015 report. "We grew several of our brands that are early in their life cycle and achieved our first year of operational revenue growth in five years."
Pfizer has been widely criticized by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and others for its proposed $160 billion merger with Allergan (NYSE:AGN_pa) last November. Under the proposed deal, Pfizer will reduce its effective corporate tax rate from 25% in the U.S. to between 17-18% for the new company by moving its corporate headquarters to Dublin. The deal takes advantage of a so-called corporate inversion strategy when a company acquires a legal address abroad to lower its effective corporate tax rate.
Shares in Pfizer ticked up 0.07 or 0.24% to 29.58 in after-hours trading.