Gilead Sciences CEO's pay $180 million in 2013

In what's shaping up as a year of oversized paydays for chief executives, Gilead Sciences CEO John Martin has emerged as one of 2013's biggest winners.

Martin pulled in compensation valued at nearly $180 million in 2013, including stock option gains worth $158 million, the biotech giant said Friday. Martin received $15.4 million in salary, incentive awards, stock and stock options -- about what he's made in each of the past three fiscal years. But he cashed in on stock options for a $158.9 million gain and received another $4.8 million from shares that vested last year, Gilead said in a preliminary proxy filing.

Martin's overall compensation was nearly double the $95.8 million he received in 2012, including $80.5 million from vested shares and stock option gains. He received about $54.5 million in 2011 compensation and $53.2 million in 2010, according to company filings.

Among other company execs, COO John Milligan received compensation valued at more than $83 million, including a $74.9 million gain exercising stock options and $2.2 million from vested shares.

Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead has been a stellar Wall Street performer, with total shareholder return up 105% last year and 61% annually since 2011. Prospects are bright for Sovaldi, a treatment for chronic hepatitis, whose annual sales could eventually hit $6 billion. Sovaldi received regulatory approval for a U.S. rollout in December.

Still, at Friday's $75.05 close, shares are relatively flat this year and off 12% from a 52-week high.

The company says its executive compensation program is designed to "directly link pay with performance, creating appropriate incentives . . . that ultimately increase the value of Gilead and shareholder returns.

Martin, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, has been Gilead's CEO since 1996. Martin's incentive awards have drawn criticism from investor Michael Weinstein, who says the company should adopt an incentive plan for Martin that would include non-financial measures, such as how many uninsured and underinsured patients are able to obtain Gilead's medications, including HIV treatments.

Shareholders will vote on Weinstein's proposal at Gilead's annual shareholder's meeting May.7. Gilead's board says the measure should be rejected and says half of patients on Gilead HIV drugs in the U.S. already receive them at discounted prices.