Report: Highest Paid CEO's In Mass. Are In Health, Science

Recession? What recession?

Not when you sit atop a company that sells health or science-related products, it seems.

According to the recent Boston Globe ranking of the highest paid CEO's in the state, the top three spots belong to chief executives in the world of health care or science. Even more eye-popping than the CEO pay packages, perhaps, is the less-than-healthy state of their companies while they are in charge.

Here are the top dogs, then, in order of total compensation, according to The Globe:

Number 1: Marc N. Casper, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., a Waltham-based scientific instrument maker
Total compensation: $34.3 million
"...with 30,000 employees and annual revenues of $10 billion, announced in August that it will close its 60-employee plant in Rhode Island next June. The company also recently cut its yearly revenue forecast by $50 million, citing less favorable currency-exchange rates."

Number 2: J. Raymond Elliott, Boston Scientific Corp., world's second-largest maker of heart devices
Total compensation: $33.5 million
"Elliott earned a $1.5 million bonus in 2009, even though he joined the company halfway through the year and the company posted a $1 billion loss last year."

3. Matthew Emmens, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Total compensation: $19.3 million
"The company is seeking approval for telaprevir, a hepatitis C treatment drug, but currently has no drugs on the market and has lost money every year since it was founded in 1989, including $642 million last year."