Eli Lilly Execs Receive $48 Million in Pay; Plus Chairman Taurel Adds $40 Million Nest Egg

The top six executives at Eli Lilly received $48 million in pay between them in 2008, according to the Indianapolis Star. CEO John Lechleiter received $13 million last year, a 39 percent increase from the year before. Chairman emeritus Sidney Taurel got $13 million, too.

The news comes on the heels of an AP report detailing Taurel's retirement package, worth $40 million.

Excessive in a time of austerity? Possibly.

But to be fair to Lechleiter and Taurel, Lilly has been one of the few companies that has not had sweeping layoffs in attempts to make its numbers. And together with the ImClone acquisition and the Effient/prasugrel approval, Lechleiter may have rescued his company from the jaws of the patent cliff. (I know, mixed metaphor. Whatever.)