After nearly nine years as GSK’s CEO, Emma Walmsley exited on a high note as her total compensation for 2025 surged nearly 50% to 15.7 million pounds sterling ($21 million).
This swan song payout, detailed in the company’s latest annual report (PDF), reflects Walmsley’s “outstanding leadership” that has changed the British pharma on “almost every measure,” as framed by GSK Chairman Jonathan Symonds.
On more concrete terms, the surge was fueled mainly by payouts from GSK’s long-term incentive awards, the values of which enjoyed a boon from the company’s rising share prices.
Vesting of the long-term rewards mounted to 10 million pounds for Walmsley in her 2025 pay package, versus 6.1 million pounds a year ago. The figure reflects an 82% vesting of the total grant that was issued in 2023 and was calculated based on GSK’s stock price of 21.65 pounds per share on Feb. 13, compared with 15.01 pounds one day before the original grant date three years ago. GSK’s shares jumped in early February following a better-than-expected earnings report.
Nevertheless, GSK’s total shareholder return, which ranked fifth within a comparator group of 10 companies, was the only item that didn’t lead to a full vesting for Walmsley’s 2023 long-term awards.
Notably, GSK’s board decided that the company’s sales, profit, pipeline progress and responsible business conduct all warranted maximum payouts over the three-year performance period.
Walmsley’s annual bonus, tied to GSK’s performance specifically for 2025, rose 23% year over year to 3.5 million pounds as the board recognized that the outgoing chief executive achieved “maximum potential on the personal element of her bonus.”
In her final year as CEO, Walmsley delivered “excellent achievement of not only her pre-agreed objectives but also successfully absorbing the complexity of [most favored nation] and other industry issues as well as providing full support to the CEO transition,” the board wrote in the annual report.
GSK’s 2025 sales grew by 7% at constant exchange rates to 32.7 billion pounds, when the board’s target for compensation evaluation purpose was about 5%.
The company’s core operating profit increased 11% at unchanged exchange rates, while the board’s goal was about 8%.
On pipeline performance, which was a new element introduced to the annual bonus scorecard last year, Walmsley achieved about 87% of the maximum points.
Specifically, GSK achieved five out of five key FDA approvals last year of Blenrep in multiple myeloma, Nucala for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), antibiotic Blujepa, five-in-one meningococcal vaccine Penmenvy and long-acting respiratory disease biologic Exdensur.
The board also counted progression of several clinical programs, including for Exdensur in COPD and for a pair of antibody-drug conjugates licensed from Hansoh Pharma, as well as business development deals that gave GSK assets in respiratory, immunology and inflammation, and oncology.
Walmsley officially stepped down from the CEO post at the beginning of 2026 but is staying on as a GSK employee until the end of this September. Luke Miels, who was GSK’s chief commercial officer under Walmsley, has since taken the baton.
For his first year at the top job, Miels will receive a base salary of 1.375 million pounds this year, which is 4% lower than Walmsley’s for 2025, according to GSK’s annual report. His long-term incentive reward for the 2026-28 cycle will be granted at 7.25 times of his salary, the same level as what Walmsley received. But the board plans to increase the rate to its current policy maximum of eight times salary next year.