Valeant CEO Michael Pearson Had Chance at $2.66 Billion Payday

Michael Pearson got an unusually big incentive in January 2015 to boost the share price of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. a potential payday of $2.66 billion. A grant the company disclosed for the first time Friday would have given the chief executive officer 2.25 million shares if Valeant reached at least $1,181.81 on three specific dates between October 2019 and April 2020. The 56-year-old CEO is unlikely to see that windfall. Shares of the Laval, Quebec-based company have plunged 67 percent this year, trading at $33.26 at 1:05 p.m. in New York, or about 87 percent below their peak in August. Pearson is stepping down next month when his replacement, Joe Papa, arrives.