Moderna CEO Faces Controversy Over 500 Billion Won Stock Options Windfall

Stefan Bancel's Salary Increased by 50% from Last Year
Stock Holdings Worth at Least 3.7 Trillion KRW
"Tax Funding, NIH Support"...Criticism Within the US

Stephan Bancel (50), CEO of the US pharmaceutical company Moderna, which rapidly grew due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has sparked controversy after it was revealed that he earned a huge amount from stock options last year.

Photo by AP [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

The US daily The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 29th (local time) that CEO Bancel earned nearly $393 million (about 527 billion KRW) from exercising stock options in 2022.

During the same period, CEO Bancel's salary also rose by 50% compared to the previous year, reaching $1.5 million (about 2 billion KRW), and the size of his cash bonus was also increased.

Moderna also spent $1 million (about 1.34 billion KRW) over the course of a year to protect CEO Bancel, citing increasing threats related to COVID-19 vaccine production.

In 2013, CEO Bancel received stock options from Moderna to purchase 4.5 million shares of the company at $0.99 per share (about 1,300 KRW). Currently, Moderna is trading on Nasdaq at around $130 per share (about 174,000 KRW).

As of the end of last year, the estimated value of CEO Bancel's stock assets is at least $2.8 billion (about 3.7 trillion KRW).

Moderna maintains that appropriate compensation is given considering the expanded international responsibilities of its executives, but criticism within the US has not subsided.

This is because $12 billion in taxes were invested in developing the COVID-19 vaccine using messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology, and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) also supported it.

The COVID-19 vaccine is currently the only product sold by Moderna, and since it was first used for inoculation in the US in December 2020, it has generated a net profit of $21 billion (about 27 trillion KRW) from it alone.

Recently, Moderna announced that it will raise the vaccine price supplied to the US government from $26 per dose to $130 (about 170,000 KRW) starting this fall when sales become deregulated.

Senator Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health Committee, pointed out that "a fivefold increase is too much." He demanded reconsideration of the price hike, saying it would cost taxpayers billions more, but CEO Bancel indicated that he has no intention of freezing the vaccine price.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.