CEO · MRK
CEO$Executive Intelligence
Robert Davis
Chairman & CEO · Merck MRK
$20.8M
FY2025 total compensation
Filed · DEF 14AMerck’s CEO since 2021, a former finance chief guiding the drugmaker through its dependence on the blockbuster cancer immunotherapy Keytruda and the search for what comes next.
CEO since2021
Born1966
Pay rank#39 of 50 tracked
Pay vs performance
what happened while he earned itCEO compensation$20.8M
Stock · since 2024-3.4%
S&P 500 · since 2024+38.4%
Revenue · YoY+1.3%
EPS · YoY+8.0%
CEO tenure5 yrs
No score, no opinion. Compensation is filed; stock and S&P are market returns over the window shown; revenue and EPS are latest reported vs the prior year. You decide.
Why this pay?
- His fiscal 2025 pay was $20.8 million, down about 10% from the prior year on lower equity-grant values. The package is a roughly $1.65 million salary, stock and option awards, a formula cash incentive, and a small pension-value change.
Quick facts
CEO since2021
PreviouslyMerck
Largest pay componentStock & options · 74%
Pay rank (tracked)#39 of 50
EducationMiami University (BS); Kellogg (MBA); Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (JD)
Compensation breakdown
DEF 14Atotal · FY2025$20,797,845
Salary$1,645,302
Cash incentive$2,326,500
Stock awards$12,102,838
Option awards$3,380,004
Change in pension value$685,143
All other comp$658,058
Total$20,797,845
Reuters reported the SCT total correctly at $20.8M; a $20.1M figure circulating elsewhere was wrong. Source: Merck 2026 Proxy (FY2025) →
Compensation history
salary + cash vs stock, from the proxies$20.8MFY2025
Stock & optionsSalary & cashOther· prior years n/a
Related intelligence
every filing on Merck, one hop awayCareer
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Every figure ties to a filing. Compensation is the total from Merck's Summary Compensation Table for FY2025(grant-date values, which can differ from what an executive realizes when awards vest). We publish what the filings say, and we don't grade people.