Companies Wave Life Sciences, Inc.
Wave Life Sciences (WVE): executive pay, fiscal 2025
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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
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 officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension / NQDC | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Moran | 520,100 | 0 | 493,080 | 2,395,588 | 331,759 | 0 | 12,822 | 3,753,349 |
| Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
| Chandra Vargeese | 502,200 | 0 | 434,380 | 2,129,411 | 320,341 | 0 | 14,064 | 3,400,396 |
| Chief Technology Officer, Head of Platform Discovery Sciences | ||||||||
| Christopher Francis | 451,400 | 0 | 293,500 | 1,435,451 | 274,226 | 0 | 11,310 | 2,465,887 |
| 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 officer | FY2025 total | FY2024 total | FY2023 total | Δ FY2024→2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Bolno | $12,277,916 | $4,272,299 | $3,874,300 | ↑ +8,005,617 |
| Kyle Moran | 3,753,349 | 1,917,381 | 1,697,072 | ↑ +1,835,968 |
| Chandra Vargeese | 3,400,396 | 1,888,563 | 1,783,339 | ↑ +1,511,833 |
| Christopher Francis | 2,465,887 | 1,566,422 | 1,527,469 | ↑ +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 consultant | Aon Consulting Inc. |
| Clawback policy | True |
| Anti-hedging | True |
| Anti-pledging | True |
Equity grants and outstanding awards
Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025
| Executive | Award | Grant date | Threshold | Target | Granted | Maximum | Grant-date fair value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Moran | OPTION | 2025-02-04 | — | — | 252,000 | — | $2,395,588 |
| Kyle Moran | RSU | 2025-02-04 | — | — | 42,000 | — | 493,080 |
| Paul Bolno | OPTION | 2025-02-04 | — | — | 1,000,000 | — | 9,506,300 |
| Paul Bolno | RSU | 2025-02-04 | — | — | 121,000 | — | 1,420,540 |
| Christopher Francis | OPTION | 2025-02-04 | — | — | 151,000 | — | 1,435,451 |
| Christopher Francis | RSU | 2025-02-04 | — | — | 25,000 | — | 293,500 |
| Chandra Vargeese | RSU | 2025-02-04 | — | — | 37,000 | — | 434,380 |
| Chandra Vargeese | OPTION | 2025-02-04 | — | — | 224,000 | — | 2,129,411 |
Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type
| Named executive officer | Time-vested (RSU) | Performance-vested (PSU) | Options / SARs | % performance-vested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Moran | $493,080 | $0 | $2,395,588 | 0.0% |
| Paul Bolno | 1,420,540 | 0 | 9,506,300 | 0.0% |
| Christopher Francis | 293,500 | 0 | 1,435,451 | 0.0% |
| Chandra Vargeese | 434,380 | 0 | 2,129,411 | 0.0% |
% 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
| Executive | Award | Shares unvested | Exercise price | Market value unvested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Francis | Option | 9,375 | 3.14 | — |
| Kyle Moran | Option | 10,938 | 3.14 | — |
| Chandra Vargeese | Option | 12,500 | 3.14 | — |
| Paul Bolno | RSU | 15,000 | — | 255,000 |
| Christopher Francis | RSU | 18,750 | — | 318,750 |
| Chandra Vargeese | RSU | 27,750 | — | 471,750 |
| Kyle Moran | RSU | 31,500 | — | 535,500 |
| Christopher Francis | RSU | 32,500 | — | 552,500 |
| Paul Bolno | Option | 37,500 | 3.14 | — |
| Chandra Vargeese | RSU | 50,000 | — | 850,000 |
| Christopher Francis | Option | 76,469 | 4.75 | — |
| Kyle Moran | Option | 85,219 | 4.75 | — |
| Paul Bolno | RSU | 90,750 | — | 1,542,750 |
| Chandra Vargeese | Option | 92,313 | 4.75 | — |
| Paul Bolno | RSU | 92,500 | — | 1,572,500 |
| Christopher Francis | Option | 151,000 | 11.74 | — |
| Christopher Francis | Option | 161,100 | 3.87 | — |
| Chandra Vargeese | Option | 203,457 | 3.87 | — |
| Kyle Moran | Option | 208,969 | 3.87 | — |
| Chandra Vargeese | Option | 224,000 | 11.74 | — |
| Paul Bolno | Option | 240,938 | 4.75 | — |
| Kyle Moran | Option | 252,000 | 11.74 | — |
| Paul Bolno | Option | 567,338 | 3.87 | — |
| Paul Bolno | Option | 1,000,000 | 11.74 | — |
Director compensation
| Director | Cash fees | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aik Na TanIndependent · Audit | $51,875 | $205,867 | $732,191 | — | — | $989,933 |
| Christian HenryIndependent · Board Chair · Audit · Compensation (Chair) | 100,000 | 102,934 | 362,666 | — | — | 565,600 |
| Mark H. N. Corrigan, M.DIndependent · Audit · Nominating and Corporate Governance · Research and Development (Chair) | 74,375 | 102,934 | 362,666 | — | — | 539,975 |
| Adrian RawcliffeIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Compensation | 69,375 | 102,934 | 362,666 | — | — | 534,975 |
| Heidi L. Wagner, J.DIndependent · Compensation · Nominating and Corporate Governance (Chair) | 64,375 | 102,934 | 362,666 | — | — | 529,975 |
| Peter KolchinskyIndependent · Partial-year service | 49,375 | 102,934 | 362,666 | — | — | 514,975 |
| Gregory L. VerdineIndependent · Partial-year service | 49,375 | 102,934 | 362,666 | — | — | 514,975 |
| Ken TakanashiIndependent · Nominating and Corporate Governance | 49,375 | 102,934 | 362,666 | — | — | 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
| Component | FY2025 |
|---|---|
| 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
- uniQure N.V.QUREFY2025
- Voyager Therapeutics, Inc.VYGRFY2025
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.
| Rank | Company | FY | Chief executive | Salary | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. | 2025 | Ian Smith | $170,625 | $11,590,000 | $14,035,067 | $0 | $27,031,655 |
| 2 | PTC Therapeutics, Inc. | 2025 | Matthew Klein | 958,500 | 16,593,800 | 4,399,760 | 1,294,000 | 23,266,326 |
| 3 | Avidity Biosciences, Inc. | 2024 | Sarah Boyce | 659,900 | 10,748,480 | 2,157,090 | 594,000 | 14,176,480 |
| 4 | Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2025 | Brett Monia | 1,051,776 | 8,444,838 | 1,438,105 | 0 | 13,350,777 |
| 5 | Wave Life Sciences, Inc. | 2025 | Paul Bolno | 700,000 | 1,420,540 | 9,506,300 | 614,250 | 12,277,916 |
| 6 | Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2025 | Christopher Anzalone | 981,046 | 6,810,292 | 0 | 1,236,000 | 9,029,861 |
| 7 | Verve Therapeutics, Inc. | 2024 | Sekar Kathiresan | 639,231 | 1,683,000 | 4,727,372 | 378,972 | 7,442,663 |
| 8 | Beam Therapeutics, Inc. | 2025 | John Evans | 755,000 | 1,513,575 | 2,876,754 | 662,513 | 5,818,525 |
| 9 | Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. | 2025 | John Leonard | 708,000 | 2,443,920 | 1,356,320 | 0 | 5,063,899 |
| 10 | Denali Therapeutics Inc. | 2025 | Ryan Watts | 718,000 | 1,151,867 | 2,180,003 | 0 | 4,751,515 |
| 11 | Prime Medicine, Inc. | 2025 | Allan Reine | 606,212 | 0 | 2,828,798 | 402,000 | 3,894,187 |
| 12 | Editas Medicine, Inc. | 2025 | Gilmore O'Neill | 686,574 | 0 | 1,282,937 | 375,164 | 2,353,655 |
| 13 | Dyne Therapeutics, Inc. | 2025 | John Cox | 721,000 | 0 | 937,893 | 410,970 | 2,076,868 |
| 14 | Alector, Inc. | 2025 | Arnon Rosenthal | 678,100 | 422,876 | 558,216 | 325,488 | 1,995,018 |
| 15 | Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. | 2025 | Joseph Payne | 750,000 | 0 | 941,000 | 0 | 1,691,000 |
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
| Company | Annual incentive payout | Long-term vehicle mix | PSU measures include TSR | Compensation consultant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave Life Sciences, Inc. | 135% | not disclosed | not disclosed | Aon Consulting Inc. |
| Alector, Inc. | 80% | not disclosed | not disclosed | Pearl Meyer & Partners, LLC |
| Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. | not disclosed | Options 100 | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 125% | PRSU 70 · RSU 30 | not disclosed | Compensia |
| Avidity Biosciences, Inc. | not disclosed | Option 80 · RSU 20 | not disclosed | Alpine |
| Beam Therapeutics, Inc. | 135% | Options 66 · RSU 34 | not disclosed | Pay Governance LLC |
| Denali Therapeutics Inc. | 145% | not disclosed | not disclosed | Alpine Rewards |
| Dyne Therapeutics, Inc. | 95% | not disclosed | not disclosed | Alpine Rewards, LLC |
| Editas Medicine, Inc. | 91% | Options 100 | not disclosed | Pearl Meyer & Partners, LLC |
| Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. | 115% | Option 40 · RSU 40 · PSU 20 | Yes — TSR relative to the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index | Alpine |
| Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | not disclosed | PRSU 40 · Option 30 · RSU 30 | Yes — Relative TSR | Aon |
| Prime Medicine, Inc. | 120% | not disclosed | not disclosed | Alpine Rewards |
| PTC Therapeutics, Inc. | not disclosed | Option 50 · RSU 50 | Yes — TSR relative to Nasdaq Biotechnology Index | Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc. |
| Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed | Aon |
| Verve Therapeutics, Inc. | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed | Radford 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 year | Meeting date | For | Against | Abstain | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2025-08-05 | 129,648,036 | 977,466 | 15,614 | 99.25% | Passed |
| 2024 | 2024-08-06 | 94,163,361 | 356,573 | 18,064 | 99.62% | Passed |
| 2023 | 2023-08-01 | 79,211,157 | 150,975 | 1,130,599 | 99.81% | Passed |
| 2022 | 2022-08-09 | 51,160,648 | 13,821,016 | 17,273 | 78.73% | Passed |
| 2021 | 2021-08-10 | 33,669,973 | 249,754 | 12,654 | 99.26% | Passed |
| 2020 | 2020-08-12 | 24,128,237 | 3,141,318 | 675 | 88.48% | 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 year | Meeting date | Approval — company’s computation |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2025-08-05 | 99.25%a |
| 2024 | 2024-08-06 | 99.62%b |
| 2023 | 2023-08-01 | 99.81%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 ↗