Executive Vice President and President, Merck Research Laboratories · Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)

Dean Li

A named executive officer of Merck in every fiscal year CompBrief holds from FY2021 to FY2025. Every figure below is printed as the company filed it and cited to the filing it came from.

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Total disclosed compensation, FY2025

$8,892,881

FY2024: $10,086,332

2nd of 5 named executive officers at Merck by FY2025 total.

5 named officers on file for Merck, FY2025

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What this number hides

The filing gives the total. Merck’s full Executive Compensation Report gives every award, the disclosed peer set and what the total leaves out — the pair adds the board’s.

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Compensation figures as of the proxy filed April 8, 2026 (DEF 14A). Insider transactions since that proxy, current to 2026-11-10.

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Dean Li compensation by year

Merck Summary Compensation Table · all 5 fiscal years held
In US dollars, as Merck reports it. Most recent year shaded. Totals are the company’s disclosed totals.
ComponentFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025
Salary$937,104$1,095,055$1,368,819$1,451,077$1,460,000
Bonus—$0$0$0$0
Stock awards$2,062,363$2,943,574$4,147,202$4,724,760$4,296,864
Option awards$900,003$1,169,998$1,679,999$1,680,000$1,199,991
Non-equity incentive$1,400,799$2,225,000$2,072,000$1,659,840$1,368,640
Pension and deferred compensation$114,593$210,204$339,249$400,472$398,839
All other$66,057$122,233$172,146$170,183$168,547
Total$5,480,919$7,766,063$9,779,414$10,086,332$8,892,881

Each year as stated in that year's proxy. A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. Source: Merck & Co., Inc. DEF 14A filed April 8, 2026, accession 0001193125-26-147704, and prior-year filings. Open the filing on EDGAR.

How this page was built: the Merck & Co., Inc. filed document, accession 0001193125-26-147704. Every figure is read from that document and cited to the page and table it appears in. Filed April 8, 2026.

$5.5M
$7.8M
$9.8M
$10.1M
$8.9M
FY21
FY22
FY23
FY24
FY25
SalaryNon-equity incentiveStock awardsOption awardsAll other

Equity holdings

unvested awards at FY2025 year-end
TypeUnvested unitsValue at year-endExercise price
PSU80,214$8,443,326—
PSU59,416$6,254,128—
RSU14,166$1,491,113—
Option21,014—$75.36
Option15,087—$56.04
Option64,481—$84.71
Option3,891—$75.36
Option43,750—$129.22
Option75,728—$87.10
Option94,654—$73.73
Option25,819—$117.89
Option17,455—$77.62

Per the Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End table in Merck & Co., Inc.'s FY2025 proxy; value at the fiscal year-end close, as the company printed it.

Insider transactions since the last proxy

5 Form 4 lines since the FY2025 proxy (filed April 8, 2026)
current to 2026-11-10 · updated nightly
DateTransactionPlanSharesPriceHeld after
2026-05-05Grant or award derivative—58,207$0.0058,207
2026-05-05Grant or award derivative—19,885$0.0019,885
2026-04-29Exercise or conversion—4,722$110.0396,757.05
2026-04-29Tax withholding—2,326$110.0394,431.05
2026-04-29Exercise or conversion derivative—4,722$0.009,444

The 5 most recent of 5 lines, each as reported on the Form 4. "10b5-1" marks a trade the filing reports under a pre-arranged trading plan. View every Form 4 filing on EDGAR →

Change-in-control & termination

estimated payments Merck discloses, by trigger · FY2024
TriggerCash severanceAccelerated equityBenefits continuationTotal as disclosed
Change in control and involuntary termination$5,824,000$6,933,313$58,267$12,830,230
Involuntary termination without cause$1,288,000$3,064,656$21,850$4,389,156

Per the Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control table in Merck & Co., Inc.'s FY2024 proxy. Estimates as the company printed them; a dash means it printed no figure.

Merck’s named executive officers, FY2025

as the company reported each
Named executive officerRoleFY2025 total
Robert DavisChairman, Chief Executive Officer and President$20,797,845
Dean Li · this pageExecutive Vice President and President, Merck Research Laboratories$8,892,881
Caroline LitchfieldExecutive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer$7,514,085
Jennifer ZacharyExecutive Vice President and General Counsel$5,860,578
Sanat ChattopadhyayExecutive Vice President and President, Merck Manufacturing Division$5,408,408

Dean Li's compensation dossier, Merck

You have read Dean Li's totals and holdings. The dossier adds each equity grant Merck disclosed for Dean Li and Merck's own disclosed peer group, where the company discloses them, with every row in a PDF and a CSV cited to its filing.

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The full Merck compensation record

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How this record is built

Every figure on this page is one figure from a public SEC filing, printed as the filing states it and cited to the document. Compensation totals are Merck's own disclosed totals, not summed by Velarion. Insider transactions are read from Form 4 filings and cover every line filed since the most recent proxy. Nothing is estimated by Velarion; where the company does not disclose a value the cell reads "—", and a section appears only where the company discloses the data. Corrections: records@velarion.ai.

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Dean Li's compensation dossier