Shareholders fail to oust Mylan board, but down-voted massive salaries

Enlarge / Robert J. Coury of Mylan (L) and Mylan CEO Heather Bresch will remain on the board. (credit: Getty | Gilbert Carrasquillo)

Mylan shareholders today did not unseat the drug maker’s board of directors, despite calls for an ouster over the EpiPen pricing scandals and remarkably large executive salaries.

In a vote during an annual meeting in Amsterdam, shareholders approved all incumbent nominees, including Chief Executive Heather Bresch, President Rajiv Malik, and Chairman Robert Coury, who earned a nearly $ 100 million salary last year amid intense backlash over EpiPen price hikes. The majority of shareholders did, however, reject such executive compensation plans—in a nonbinding vote.

In recent weeks, a group of shareholders had campaigned to overthrow the board for what it called “significant reputational and financial harm” and “new lows in corporate stewardship.” The disgruntled shareholders were backed by an influential advisory firm, the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which agreed that the EpiPen price increases and eye-popping executive salaries caused “significant destruction in shareholder value” and “long-term reputational damage.”