NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – In April, CEO Bill Weldon will be retiring from the top job at Johnson & Johnson and leaving with a bonus of $3.1 million. This is $1.1 million more than the bonus he recieved last year because the company cut bonuses and compensation due to major product recalls.
Weldon was the head of the company when they issued recalls on around 30 products, ranging from children’s and adult Tylenol, Benadryl, Zyrtec, Motrin, and prescription drugs including the HIV medicine Prezista and epilepsy pill Topamax. Â Most of the products were taken off the market because of manufacturing problems. Earlier this month, federal regulators signed a legally binding agreement with the company to oversee control of operations at three of its plants linked to the problems.
In 2008, the company executed a ‘stealth recall’ in which J&J secretly paid a third party to quietly buy up packages of faulty medication from stores.
The company is also facing lawsuits over the recalls. One lawsuit recently filed by a couple in Washington state alleges their infant son died shortly after ingesting a super dose of Tylenol, according to an Associated Press report.
Weldon may be retiring from the lucrative position, but he will be receiving a higher bonus and letting vice chairman of J&J’s executive committee, Alex Gorsky, take the reigns of the company.
Currently, Gorksy oversees 140 manufacturing facilities around the world and is in charge of government affairs, policy, and the company’s venture capital subsidiary, known as the Johnson and Johnson Development Corp.
This change will occur on April 26th, the date of the company’s annual shareholders meeting, to be held at the New Brunswick Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.
