Carl Icahn speaks at Delivering Alpha in Latest York City, September 13, 2016.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Carl Icahn exploded Illumina for nearly doubling his CEO’s salary last yr, despite a dramatic decline within the biotech firm’s market value since closing the controversial deal.
“I might have found it comical if it weren’t so reprehensible that ILMN’s share price fell 63% due to such an absurd and questionable purchase of CEO Francis deSouza,” Icahn said in an announcement to CNBC.
“It’s really funny to think that it’s hard to search out good CEOs on this area,” the activist-investor added. “I feel you would be hard-pressed to search out someone who could lose $50 billion in shareholder value in just a few months and still earn 87% more for a complete of $26.8 million in 2022.”
Illumina didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
DeSouza took over as CEO in 2016 after nearly three years as president of a DNA sequencing company. He received nearly $26.8 million in total compensation last yr, almost double the $14.3 million he received in 2021, in keeping with data initial statement of the representative Illumina filed the appliance on Thursday.
A part of deSouza’s pay increase is a special grant of $12.5 million in stock options, which Illumina called “a major incentive to remain in a highly competitive talent environment.”
DeSouza’s salary increase comes after a tricky 18 months for San Diego-based Illumina. The corporate’s market value fell to around $35 billion from around $75 billion in August 2021, the month it closed its acquisition of cancer test maker Grail.
Raphael Henry | Light Rocket | Getty Images
The $7.1 billion Grail deal has been the topic of a proxy fight between Icahn and Illumina, who’ve been trading jabs for nearly a month.
Icahn, who owns 1.4% of Illumina, is running for board seats. He can also be attempting to force Illumina to back out of the Grail takeover, which he called “catastrophic” and “a latest bottom of corporate governance.”
He has repeatedly criticized Illumina’s board and management team, saying earlier this week that the corporate should reinstate former CEO Jay Flatley to “sort things.”
Illumina on Thursday urged shareholders to reject Icahn’s three nominees for the board of directors and continued to defend its management team’s decision to accumulate Grail.
The corporate also claimed that Icahn had more favorable things to say about his current CEO before starting the proxy fight.
Icahn told Illumina last month he was going to nominate the board, despite the fact that he believed deSouza “did a superb job” running the corporate, Illumina said.
The activist-investor also said he “supports” deSouza’s actions as CEO at one other meeting earlier this month, but noted he wouldn’t repeat those comments publicly, in keeping with Illumina.
A part of Icahn’s opposition to the Grail acquisition stems from Illumina’s decision to shut the deal without antitrust approval. TThe corporate won following the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s objection to the deal in September, but remains to be fighting for approval from European regulators.
The EU’s executive body, the European Commission, last yr blocked Grail’s takeover by Illumina fearing it could stifle innovation and hurt consumer selection. The commission also disclosed details of a planned order that might force Illumina to terminate the contract.
Illumina he said earlier this month that Grail has “huge long-term value creation potential.”
Graal says it offers the one ones available available on the market early screening which may detect greater than 50 kinds of cancer with a single blood draw. The test generated $55 million in revenue in 2022 and is predicted to usher in as much as $110 million this yr, in keeping with Illumina.