Vasella heads top 10 pay list

Daniel Vasella, chairman of Basel-based pharamaceutical company Novartis, is Switzerland’s top paid executive, according to a list published by Handelszeitung, the Swiss business journal.

The newspaper says Vasella’s pay jumped by more than 20 percent in 2008 to 20.5 million francs, putting him just ahead of Joe Hogan, CEO of ABB the engineering firm.

The list ranks Frank Hummer, chairman of Roche in third place, although his income dropped 30 percent to 15.2 million francs from 21.6 million francs in the previous year.

Fourth ranked Peter Brabek, chairman of Vevey-based Nestlé saw his pay drop by 20 percent to 13.9 million francs, while James Schiro, CEO of Zurich Financial Services ranked fifth with an income of 10.9 million francs, up 6.6 percent from the previous year.

The top 10 list is conspicuous by the absence of CEOs from the country’s big banks, which suffered record losses last year due to the financial crisis.

Others in the list include sixth-place Norman Blatt, CEO of Richemont (10 million fracs) and seventh placed Johann Rupert, chairman of the same company (9.3 million francs.)

Rounding out the list are Severin Schwan, CEO of Roche, who earned 8.3 million francs in his first year at the company after assuming office in March 2008; Paul Buicke, Nestlé CEO (7.98 million francs); and Alfred N. Schindler, CEO and chairman of Schindler, the elevator and escalator company, who saw his remuneration climb 30 percent to 7.4 million francs.