Drug Distributor Cencora Sees Legal Chief’s Pay Soar 90% (1)

Cencora Inc., a pharmaceutical distribution giant formerly known as AmerisourceBergen, saw its chief legal officer Elizabeth Campbell’s total compensation rise roughly 90% in 2024.

The disclosure, made in a proxy filing Thursday, shows that Campbell’s pay package rose to almost $7.7 million, up from roughly $4 million the year prior. Cencora elevated Campbell to its top legal role in late 2021 after the company and two others—Johnson & Johnson and McKesson Corp.—agreed to a $26 billion settlement to resolve thousands of opioid-related lawsuits.

Campbell received more than $5.7 million in stock awards and almost $1.9 million in cash from Cencora during 2024, including nearly $722,000 in base salary. She joined the company as a senior counsel in 2010, having spent the prior decade at Pepper Hamilton, a law firm now called Troutman Pepper Locke.

John Chou, who preceded Campbell as Cencora’s legal chief, earned $4.4 million during 2021, his final year at the company. Campbell oversees Cencora’s legal, regulatory, compliance, and risk functions. She has expanded her portfolio of C-suite responsibilities to include real estate, global public affairs, and environmental, social, and corporate governance. Her remuneration rise last year was mostly attributable to a $3 million restricted stock award that she and another executive received as part of a CEO transition plan.

Cencora announced last year that its COO Robert Mauch would succeed its longtime CEO Steven Collis as of Oct. 1, 2024. Collis recently retired from the Conshohocken, Pa.-based company, which earlier this month completed its $4.6 billion cash acquisition of a controlling stake in Retina Consultants of America, a management services organization for a network of eye specialists.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; and Sidley Austin advised Cencora on that transaction. Morgan Lewis is also representing Cencora in litigation related to a health data breach last year that saw hackers make off with $75 million in ransom payments.

Kourosh “Korey” Pirouz, a signatory to Cencora’s most recent proxy, has been the company’s group general counsel and corporate secretary since 2022. He’s also an ex-Morgan Lewis associate, as was Chou, Cencora’s former legal chief.

McKesson and Cardinal Health, both of which have worked with Cencora to resolve opioid cases, are among its list of peer companies for executive compensation. McKesson disclosed last year that its new legal chief, Michele Lau, earned more than $8.8 million after coming aboard from GoDaddy Inc. Lori Schechter, McKesson’s retired top lawyer, received about $4.8 million in 2024.

Cardinal Health said in a proxy filing last year that its chief legal and compliance officer Jessica Mayer had a 2024 pay package valued at almost $4.7 million.