Pfizer Inc CEO Albert Bourla pocketed about US$5.6 million after selling stock, the latest executive to reap the rewards of insider share transactions amid a vaccine-fueled rally for some pharmaceutical companies.
Bourla disposed of more than 130,000 shares on Monday, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sally Susman, executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer at Pfizer, also offloaded about US$1.8 million in stock.
Photo: AFP
Pfizer’s shares soared that day after a report on results from its experimental vaccine with partner BioNTech SE.
US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci called the test findings “extraordinary” and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic could clear the vaccine for emergency use imminently.
Both executives’ sales were done under prearranged 10b5-1 trading plans, which let people schedule sales in advance at certain times or prices, absolving themselves from accusations of insider trading.
Public-company executives typically receive a considerable share of their compensation in the form of stock, and the vast majority periodically sell part of their holdings.
A Pfizer spokeswoman said the sales were part of the executives’ personal financial planning.
Bourla authorized the sale in August last year and Susman in November, provided the stock reached a certain price.
Still, some governance watchdogs criticize executive sales generally, and trading plans in particular, asking why bosses would dispose of stock if they think the price might be higher in the future.
Moderna Inc, for example, has received scrutiny as executives sold large amounts of stock throughout the spring and the summer.
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel has sold more than 500,000 shares this year, but the value of his stake has swelled as the stock has rallied more than 300 percent this year.
Moderna is also slated to release its own late-stage COVID-19 vaccine data sometime this month that could push prices higher.
Moderna did not immediately respond to e-mailed requests seeking comment.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy