[3][4] In February 2013 Vasella was awarded close to $78 million in a "golden handshake" [5] In November 2014, Vasella was elected as a member of the board of directors at XBiotech, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company located in Austin, Texas, that focuses on the discovery and commercialization of a next generation of therapeutic antibodies which harness a human's natural immunity to fight disease.

[1][9] In 1988, he changed career paths, working in the United States as a pharmaceutical sales representative and in market research.

He remained there until 1992, when he was promoted to CEO of parent company, Sandoz Pharma Ltd., and named a member of the group executive committee.

[1][11] Vasella helped to orchestrate the 1996 merger between Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy, another Swiss pharmaceutical company.

He was replaced by his hand-picked successor, Joseph Jimenez, the Division Head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals at the time.

In January 2013, Novartis announced that Vasella would be retiring as chairman of the board of directors in February 2013.

That he should get 72 Mio CHF for a noncompetition clause at the end made him a public figure during the campaign for the Swiss referendum "against rip-off salaries".