Amgen’s Ex-CEO Pockets a Bundle

Gordon M. Binder, retired chairman and chief executive of Amgen Inc., exercised options last year valued at $161.2 million, the biotechnology company disclosed Wednesday.

The sum makes Binder, who retired as CEO in May and as chairman in December, one of the nation’s most richly rewarded executives in 2000.

Depending on how Amgen’s stock performs, Binder, who remains a consultant to Amgen, has a shot at staying in that lofty crowd. His unexercised options are worth $100.3 million, according to Amgen’s proxy statement.

Binder, 65, earned $1.8 million in salary and bonuses in 2000.

He joined Amgen when it was a biotech boutique in 1982. He became chief executive in 1988 and chairman in 1990. Under Binder’s leadership, the company emerged as a pharmaceutical powerhouse, anchored by the blockbuster anti-anemia drug Epogen, which accounts for about $3 billion in sales.

An investment of $100 in Amgen when Binder became CEO would have been worth $10,096 when he stepped down as chairman, said compensation expert Graef Crystal. In that same time, $100 invested in the S&P; 500 would be worth only $618.

“It’s a terrific performance,” said Crystal, also a columnist for Bloomberg News. He said Binder should be well-rewarded, though perhaps not so richly. “I would argue no one deserves that much,” Crystal said.

Other executives in Binder’s compensation bracket last year included General Electric Chairman and Chief Executive Jack Welch, who earned $136 million, and Citigroup boss Sanford Weill, who surpassed them both with compensation totaling $215 million.

The value of Binder’s options was determined by the difference between the option price and the market price of Amgen’s stock on the date of exercise, the company said. Binder has sold most of the underlying shares.

Amgen’s performance slipped last year, with its share price rising 6.5%, compared with a 23% gain in the Nasdaq biotechnology index. Amgen shares rose 31 cents to close at $55 on Wednesday on Nasdaq.