Moderna management check
MRNA · Health Care · Biotechnology · CEO Stephane Bancel
Filings as of
4 good · 0 to watch · 3 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $28, against $120 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.55 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Flag
What does the CEO cost owners?
Paid in a loss-making year$19.9m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, a year the company lost $2.8bn.
- Good
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 6.4 years of payThe CEO holds 6,687,037 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 6.4 years of pay. Light activity: no buys, $72.4m sold in six months. 17 of 18 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Flag
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.9% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 24.8% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
5 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Mr. Bancel. 5 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Health Care.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 0 | 26 | |
| Pay for performance | 77 | 85 | |
| CEO cost | 0 | 44 | |
| Skin in the game | 75 | 46 | |
| Dilution | 20 | 68 | |
| Stable leadership | 100 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Biotechnology, by management score. Moderna is 50th of 60 in its sector.
- 19VRTXVertex Pharmaceuticals86
- 43GILDGilead Sciences82
- 93REGNRegeneron Pharmaceuticals77
- 136AMGNAmgen73
- 199ABBVAbbVie69
- 298INCYIncyte61
- 401MRNAModerna53
- 447BIIBBiogen47
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 16, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mr. Bancel | $19.9m | $15.8m | $9.8m | $28 | $120 | −$2.8bn |
| 2024 | Mr. Bancel | $19.9m | $5.8m | $14.6m | $40 | $91 | −$3.6bn |
| 2023 | Mr. Bancel | $17.1m | −$155.6m | $5.1m | $95 | $92 | −$4.7bn |
| 2022 | Mr. Bancel | $19.4m | −$306.2m | $5.8m | $172 | $89 | $8.4bn |
| 2021 | Mr. Bancel | $18.2m | $793.0m | $8.3m | $243 | $99 | $12.2bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Total Revenue. Its other key measures: Operating Expense, Total Shareholder Return (TSR).
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Stephane Bancel (Chief Executive Officer) held 6,687,037 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Aug 6, 2026, roughly $128.1m at that filing's price.
Light activity: no buys, $72.4m sold in six months. 17 of 18 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldStephen HogePresident · 10b5-1 plan$37.6mOct 15, 2026
- SoldStephane BancelChief Executive Officer · 10b5-1 plan$28.7mAug 5, 2026
- SoldJames M MockChief Financial Officer · 10b5-1 plan$4.7mSep 10, 2026
- SoldShannon Thyme KlingerChief Legal Officer · 10b5-1 plan$659kSep 1, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Sep 30, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 8, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 2, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 23, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 12, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 29, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 17, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 1, 2022Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- May 13, 2022Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- May 11, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 11, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 11, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $5.3bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 56% of net income, and $1.6bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $18.5bn | $19.3bn | $6.8bn | $3.2bn | $1.9bn |
| Net income | $12.2bn | $8.4bn | −$4.7bn | −$3.6bn | −$2.8bn |
| Stock-based pay | $142.0m | $226.0m | $305.0m | $429.0m | $483.0m |
| Buybacks | $857.0m | $3.3bn | $1.2bn | $0 | $2.0m |
| Dividends | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 431m | 416m | 382m | 384m | 389m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.