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Companies Wave Life Sciences, Inc.

Wave Life Sciences (WVE): executive pay, fiscal 2025

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CEO total pay$12,277,916CEO Paul Bolno · source
Say-on-pay support99.25%Latest vote · source
CEO vs. named peers71st pct.Of 14 peer CEOs
CEO pay ratio20:1To the median employee · source

CEO pay, last three years

  • $3,874,300FY2023
  • $4,272,299FY2024
  • $12,277,916FY2025

CEO total pay was $12,277,916 in fiscal 2025, up from $4,272,299 in fiscal 2024.

FY2025: salary $700,000 · bonus $0 · stock awards $1,420,540 · option awards $9,506,300

Executives and directors

Frequently asked questions

Who was the highest-paid executive at Wave Life Sciences, Inc. in fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Paul Bolno (President and Chief Executive Officer) was the highest-paid executive at Wave Life Sciences, Inc. in fiscal 2025, with total compensation of $12,277,916.
How does Wave Life Sciences, Inc.'s chief executive pay compare to its disclosed peer group?
As disclosed, Paul Bolno's total compensation ranked at the 71st percentile of Wave Life Sciences, Inc.'s disclosed peer group.
What is Wave Life Sciences, Inc.'s CEO-to-median employee pay ratio?
As disclosed, Wave Life Sciences, Inc.'s CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 20:1.
How did shareholders vote on Wave Life Sciences, Inc.'s executive compensation?
As disclosed, 99.25% of shareholders supported Wave Life Sciences, Inc.'s executive compensation in the latest say-on-pay vote.
How much does Wave Life Sciences, Inc. spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Wave Life Sciences, Inc. reported total board compensation of $1,434,530 for fiscal 2025.

Answers are drawn only from the figures disclosed in this brief and cited to their location in the source filing. Where a figure required for an answer is not disclosed, that is stated rather than estimated.

Full detail

Every table from the filing. Open any section.

Summary compensation table
Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Paul Bolno$700,000$0$1,420,540$9,506,300$614,250$0$36,826$12,277,916
President and Chief Executive Officer
Kyle Moran520,1000493,0802,395,588331,759012,8223,753,349
Chief Financial Officer
Chandra Vargeese502,2000434,3802,129,411320,341014,0643,400,396
Chief Technology Officer, Head of Platform Discovery Sciences
Christopher Francis451,4000293,5001,435,451274,226011,3102,465,887
Chief Strategy Officer

A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.

Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive

Named executive officerFY2025 totalFY2024 totalFY2023 totalΔ FY2024→2025
Paul Bolno$12,277,916$4,272,299$3,874,300↑ +8,005,617
Kyle Moran3,753,3491,917,3811,697,072↑ +1,835,968
Chandra Vargeese3,400,3961,888,5631,783,339↑ +1,511,833
Christopher Francis2,465,8871,566,4221,527,469↑ +899,465

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

Our Compensation Committee regularly reviews the elements of the individual compensation packages for our Chief Executive Officer and our other executive officers to achieve the following primary objectives: • Attract, retain and motivate superior executive talent across all areas of our business; • Provide incentives that reward the achievement of performance goals that directly correlate to the enhancement of stockholder value, which we seek to achieve through the discovery, development and potential commercialization of transformative medicines; • Ensure the majority of compensation is performance-based and “at-risk”; and • Align our executive officers’ interests with those of our stockholders through long-term incentives linked to specific performance.

CEO STI target (% of salary)65%
CEO LTI target (% of salary)—
Independent consultantAon Consulting Inc.
Clawback policyTrue
Anti-hedgingTrue
Anti-pledgingTrue
Equity grants and outstanding awards

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Kyle MoranOPTION2025-02-04——252,000—$2,395,588
Kyle MoranRSU2025-02-04——42,000—493,080
Paul BolnoOPTION2025-02-04——1,000,000—9,506,300
Paul BolnoRSU2025-02-04——121,000—1,420,540
Christopher FrancisOPTION2025-02-04——151,000—1,435,451
Christopher FrancisRSU2025-02-04——25,000—293,500
Chandra VargeeseRSU2025-02-04——37,000—434,380
Chandra VargeeseOPTION2025-02-04——224,000—2,129,411

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Kyle Moran$493,080$0$2,395,5880.0%
Paul Bolno1,420,54009,506,3000.0%
Christopher Francis293,50001,435,4510.0%
Chandra Vargeese434,38002,129,4110.0%

% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Christopher FrancisOption9,3753.14—
Kyle MoranOption10,9383.14—
Chandra VargeeseOption12,5003.14—
Paul BolnoRSU15,000—255,000
Christopher FrancisRSU18,750—318,750
Chandra VargeeseRSU27,750—471,750
Kyle MoranRSU31,500—535,500
Christopher FrancisRSU32,500—552,500
Paul BolnoOption37,5003.14—
Chandra VargeeseRSU50,000—850,000
Christopher FrancisOption76,4694.75—
Kyle MoranOption85,2194.75—
Paul BolnoRSU90,750—1,542,750
Chandra VargeeseOption92,3134.75—
Paul BolnoRSU92,500—1,572,500
Christopher FrancisOption151,00011.74—
Christopher FrancisOption161,1003.87—
Chandra VargeeseOption203,4573.87—
Kyle MoranOption208,9693.87—
Chandra VargeeseOption224,00011.74—
Paul BolnoOption240,9384.75—
Kyle MoranOption252,00011.74—
Paul BolnoOption567,3383.87—
Paul BolnoOption1,000,00011.74—
Director compensation
DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Aik Na TanIndependent · Audit$51,875$205,867$732,191——$989,933
Christian HenryIndependent · Board Chair · Audit · Compensation (Chair)100,000102,934362,666——565,600
Mark H. N. Corrigan, M.DIndependent · Audit · Nominating and Corporate Governance · Research and Development (Chair)74,375102,934362,666——539,975
Adrian RawcliffeIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Compensation69,375102,934362,666——534,975
Heidi L. Wagner, J.DIndependent · Compensation · Nominating and Corporate Governance (Chair)64,375102,934362,666——529,975
Peter KolchinskyIndependent · Partial-year service49,375102,934362,666——514,975
Gregory L. VerdineIndependent · Partial-year service49,375102,934362,666——514,975
Ken TakanashiIndependent · Nominating and Corporate Governance49,375102,934362,666——514,975
Paul B. Bolno, M.D., MBAEmployee director—————0

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$50,000
Annual equity retainer—
Per board meeting fee—
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)20,000 / 15,000 / 15,000
Stock ownership guideline—

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$508,125
Equity awards (grant-date value)$926,405
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$1,434,530

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

Peer group, and who names Wave Life Sciences as a peer

Companies that benchmark against WVE

2 companies name WVE as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses WVE in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named WVE in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2025

The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.

Chief executive pay against the peer group

Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company’s own proxy statement.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1Stoke Therapeutics, Inc.2025Ian Smith$170,625$11,590,000$14,035,067$0$27,031,655
2PTC Therapeutics, Inc.2025Matthew Klein958,50016,593,8004,399,7601,294,00023,266,326
3Avidity Biosciences, Inc.2024Sarah Boyce659,90010,748,4802,157,090594,00014,176,480
4Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.2025Brett Monia1,051,7768,444,8381,438,105013,350,777
5Wave Life Sciences, Inc.2025Paul Bolno700,0001,420,5409,506,300614,25012,277,916
6Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.2025Christopher Anzalone981,0466,810,29201,236,0009,029,861
7Verve Therapeutics, Inc.2024Sekar Kathiresan639,2311,683,0004,727,372378,9727,442,663
8Beam Therapeutics, Inc.2025John Evans755,0001,513,5752,876,754662,5135,818,525
9Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.2025John Leonard708,0002,443,9201,356,32005,063,899
10Denali Therapeutics Inc.2025Ryan Watts718,0001,151,8672,180,00304,751,515
11Prime Medicine, Inc.2025Allan Reine606,21202,828,798402,0003,894,187
12Editas Medicine, Inc.2025Gilmore O'Neill686,57401,282,937375,1642,353,655
13Dyne Therapeutics, Inc.2025John Cox721,0000937,893410,9702,076,868
14Alector, Inc.2025Arnon Rosenthal678,100422,876558,216325,4881,995,018
15Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.2025Joseph Payne750,0000941,00001,691,000

Each peer’s compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer’s figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.

Incentive design against the same peers

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
Wave Life Sciences, Inc.135%not disclosednot disclosedAon Consulting Inc.
Alector, Inc.80%not disclosednot disclosedPearl Meyer & Partners, LLC
Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.not disclosedOptions 100not disclosednot disclosed
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.125%PRSU 70 · RSU 30not disclosedCompensia
Avidity Biosciences, Inc.not disclosedOption 80 · RSU 20not disclosedAlpine
Beam Therapeutics, Inc.135%Options 66 · RSU 34not disclosedPay Governance LLC
Denali Therapeutics Inc.145%not disclosednot disclosedAlpine Rewards
Dyne Therapeutics, Inc.95%not disclosednot disclosedAlpine Rewards, LLC
Editas Medicine, Inc.91%Options 100not disclosedPearl Meyer & Partners, LLC
Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.115%Option 40 · RSU 40 · PSU 20Yes — TSR relative to the Nasdaq Biotechnology IndexAlpine
Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.not disclosedPRSU 40 · Option 30 · RSU 30Yes — Relative TSRAon
Prime Medicine, Inc.120%not disclosednot disclosedAlpine Rewards
PTC Therapeutics, Inc.not disclosedOption 50 · RSU 50Yes — TSR relative to Nasdaq Biotechnology IndexFrederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.
Stoke Therapeutics, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedAon
Verve Therapeutics, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedRadford Data & Analytics from Aon plc

Read from each company’s Compensation Discussion and Analysis: annual incentive payout as a percentage of target, the disclosed long-term vehicle mix, whether performance-share measures include a total shareholder return component, and the retained compensation consultant. “Not disclosed” appears only where the company’s filing does not state the item.

Say-on-pay history and pay ratio
Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20252025-08-05129,648,036977,46615,61499.25%Passed
20242024-08-0694,163,361356,57318,06499.62%Passed
20232023-08-0179,211,157150,9751,130,59999.81%Passed
20222022-08-0951,160,64813,821,01617,27378.73%Passed
20212021-08-1033,669,973249,75412,65499.26%Passed
20202020-08-1224,128,2373,141,31867588.48%Passed

Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year’s compensation.

Say-on-pay — history, company’s computation

Meeting yearMeeting dateApproval — company’s computation
20252025-08-0599.25%a
20242024-08-0699.62%b
20232023-08-0199.81%c

a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

b. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

c. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

Approval percentages are the company’s own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.

CEO pay ratio

Ratio (CEO : median employee)20 : 1
CEO total compensation$3,581,526
Median employee compensation$175,254
Insider trades since the proxy

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

Sources (43 citations)

Each figure is listed with the filing it comes from, where it appears in that filing, and the value as printed. Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.

  • Section 01, Paul Bolno. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation” · page 37. As printed: 12,277,916. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Kyle Moran. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 3,753,349. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Chandra Vargeese. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 3,400,396. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Christopher Francis. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 2,465,887. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Kyle Moran OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Kyle Moran RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul Bolno OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul Bolno RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Christopher Francis OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Christopher Francis RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Chandra Vargeese RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Chandra Vargeese OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2020-06-26. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 20 : 1. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Aik Na Tan. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 989,933. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Christian Henry. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 565,600. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Mark H. N. Corrigan, M.D. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 539,975. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Adrian Rawcliffe. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 534,975. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Heidi L. Wagner, J.D. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 529,975. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Peter Kolchinsky. DEF 14A. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 514,975.
  • Section 08, Gregory L. Verdine. DEF 14A. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 514,975.
  • Section 08, Ken Takanashi. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 514,975. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Paul B. Bolno, M.D., MBA. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2025 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2025-08-11. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.25% (votes for as printed: 129,648,036). View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2024 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2024-08-12. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.62% (votes for as printed: 94,163,361). View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2023 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2023-08-07. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.81% (votes for as printed: 79,211,157). View filing ↗
  • Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed). Computed. Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.
  • Section 03b vehicle mix (computed). Computed. RSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).
  • Section 09b board cost (computed). Computed. Cash 508,125 + equity 926,405 + all other 0 = 1,434,530, summed across the director compensation table rows.
  • Stoke Therapeutics, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-22. CEO total compensation as printed in Stoke Therapeutics, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 27,031,655. View filing ↗
  • PTC Therapeutics, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. CEO total compensation as printed in PTC Therapeutics, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 23,266,326. View filing ↗
  • Avidity Biosciences, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2025-04-29. CEO total compensation as printed in Avidity Biosciences, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 14,176,480. View filing ↗
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-23. CEO total compensation as printed in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 13,350,777. View filing ↗
  • Wave Life Sciences, Inc. (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-14. CEO total compensation as printed in Wave Life Sciences, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 12,277,916. View filing ↗
  • Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-27. CEO total compensation as printed in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,029,861. View filing ↗
  • Verve Therapeutics, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2025-04-25. CEO total compensation as printed in Verve Therapeutics, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 7,442,663. View filing ↗
  • Beam Therapeutics, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-17. CEO total compensation as printed in Beam Therapeutics, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 5,818,525. View filing ↗
  • Intellia Therapeutics, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-30. CEO total compensation as printed in Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 5,063,899. View filing ↗
  • Denali Therapeutics Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-21. CEO total compensation as printed in Denali Therapeutics Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,751,515. View filing ↗
  • Prime Medicine, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-23. CEO total compensation as printed in Prime Medicine, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 3,894,187. View filing ↗
  • Editas Medicine, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-28. CEO total compensation as printed in Editas Medicine, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 2,353,655. View filing ↗
  • Dyne Therapeutics, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-23. CEO total compensation as printed in Dyne Therapeutics, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 2,076,868. View filing ↗
  • Alector, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-28. CEO total compensation as printed in Alector, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 1,995,018. View filing ↗
  • Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. CEO total compensation as printed in Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 1,691,000. View filing ↗
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