Pfizer CEO Profits After COVID Vaccine Announcement

MarketScale
MarketScale
Nov 30, 2020
Albert Bourla CEO Coronavirus COVID Daniel Litwin Podcast Moderna Pfizer profit shareholders Stock Tyler Kern Podcast Vaccine

Eyebrows raised when Pfizer CEO sold some of his holdings in the company to the tune of $5.6 million. The prescheduled sale came at the perfect time, when the company publicly announced promising results from early COVID vaccine trials. CNBC reports that Bourla’s base salary was $1.65 million in April. After his most recent sale of shares, he still owns nine times his salary in shares, approximately $15 million.

MarketScale Radio hosts Daniel Litwin and Tyler Kern dissect the news. Litwin considers the serendipity of the sale timed with the public announcement. Kern and Litwin consider the thought of one person profiting tremendously off of a public good like a life-saving vaccine, and in the end, Kern points out, any one takeaway depends on how one feels about capitalism’s economic structures and incentives.

KEY POINTS:

  • Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla sells $5.6 million worth of stock just as it jumps 15%.
  • The sale was pre-scheduled, but opportunely timed with the public announcement of a promising vaccine.
  • Other medical executives at Moderna also are cashing in on spiking stocks while vaccines inch toward approval.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Healthcare Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Chase Harris
Faith, Fatherhood, and Fortitude: Inside Chase Harris’ Mission to Make Accessibility Possible for Every Child
October 15, 2025

Chase Harris is a father, husband, entrepreneur, and all-around force of light. Alongside his wife, Carly, and their son, Cash, he has inspired millions online through messages of resilience, faith, and family. Their story is one of turning adversity into action — and hardship into hope. “We knew early on that Cash had this special…

Read More
accounting career
How Shanice Scott Reinvented Her Accounting Career — And Found Her ‘Why’
October 15, 2025

The accounting pipeline is in flux. After years of decline in new graduates, the AICPA reported that bachelor’s completions fell 7.8% in 2021–22 and master’s fell 6.4%. In Fall 2024, undergraduate accounting enrollment rebounded by about 12%, while graduate enrollment continued to dip, underscoring a profession still recalibrating its talent model. For those building or…

Read More
Faherty
From Heritage to Hospitality: The Faherty Blueprint for Authentic, Community-Centered Branding
October 15, 2025

Great clothes may be where it starts, but today’s shoppers are looking for something more — a sense of connection, belonging, and shared purpose. Research shows that 90% of consumers value authenticity when deciding which brands to support: a clear reminder that while quality and design remain vital, meaning has become the new measure of loyalty….

Read More
Food-as-Medicine
The Gut Reset Revolution: How Food-as-Medicine Became the New Foundation for Wellness
October 15, 2025

Gut health has moved from fringe to front page, with consumers overwhelmed by protocols, powders, and “miracle” cleanses. As interest surges, so do questions about what actually works day to day—and why it matters now. One reason: an estimated 65% of the population is dairy intolerant, complicating popular bovine colostrum trends cited for immunity…

Read More
Related
competition
Software & Technology
The Open Road to Reform: Why Healthcare Needs Disruption, Innovation, and the Return of Real Competition
October 15, 2025
Automation
Healthcare
The Future of RCM: Leveraging AI, Automation, and Human-Centered Design to Transform Patient Financial Care
October 14, 2025

Hospitals today are juggling tighter budgets, shifting regulations, and increasingly savvy patients—all while trying to keep financial operations running smoothly. That pressure has made the revenue cycle a powerful lever for innovation. The spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation is no longer experimental; it’s reshaping how health systems manage billing, reimbursement, and patient engagement….

Read More
revenue cycle
Healthcare
Lasting Success in Healthcare Depends on Human Understanding: Why the Most Resilient Revenue Cycles Are Built on Empathy, Not Algorithms
October 14, 2025

Hospitals today are fighting a two-front battle — one against increasingly sophisticated payers armed with automation and AI, and another to meet patients’ rising expectations for clarity and convenience. A recent joint study by Knowtion Health and the Healthcare Financial Management Association found that nearly one in two revenue cycle executives now identify payer denials…

Read More