Elon Musk leads automotive CEO compensation gold rush

Median pay for CEOs who have been in their positions for at least two years rose 90 percent from 2020, according to a survey by Equilar.

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							Retirement Pay
2021 Total Compensation	2020 Total Compensation	2021 Base Salary	2021 Bonus and Incentive Plan Compensation	2021 Stock Option Gains	2021 Stock Award Gains	2021 Other	2021 Accumulated Pension Benefits	2021 Deferred Compensation Balance
$23,452,910,176	0	0	0	$23,452,910,176	0	0	0	0
$560,990,995	$255,196,003	$996,216	$4,000,000	$506,809,477	$49,104,264	$81,038	0	0
$67,030,092	N/A	$528,846	$2,406,386	$16,652,592	$40,872,951	$6,569,317	0	0
$62,260,812	$40,298,883	$2,100,000	$7,644,000	$26,496,723	$25,147,014	$873,075	$2,725,136	$4,844,404
$40,297,753	$31,605,670	$1,350,000	$7,410,625	$28,064,915	$3,273,763	$198,450	$14,434,984	$6,216,885
$32,065,188	$24,363,074	$1,391,667	$2,800,000	$12,943,093	$14,767,997	$162,431	$26,780,595	$5,054,712
$25,888,570	$9,306,843	$1,200,000	$2,903,400	$18,645,290	$2,742,537	$397,343	0	$14,416,010
$23,734,030	$6,236,088	$1,000,000	$2,269,500	$4,698,672	$15,403,241	$362,617	0	$4,610,157
$22,171,190	$15,536,703	$1,462,272	$745,759	0	$19,721,421	$241,738	0	$1,922,878
$21,843,472	$7,751,339	$1,300,000	$9,068,900	$7,417,253	$3,897,790	$159,529	$28,692,504	$223,619
$21,701,149	$13,951,770	$1,037,145	$958,338	$14,219,067	$4,913,329	$573,270	$18,549,337	$911,441
$17,887,786	$10,725,375	$1,127,308	$4,366,810	$9,179,996	$2,906,553	$307,119	0	$2,917,156
$17,219,191	$13,390,465	$1,133,221	$3,007,125	0	$13,065,576	$13,269	0	0
$16,051,205	$7,328,358	$1,106,000	$2,996,000	0	$11,742,213	$206,992	0	$6,399,078
$16,038,000	N/A	$1,098,500	$6,863,900	0	$7,674,000	$401,600	$1,683,000	$32,000
$15,067,267	$14,748,212	$1,575,000	$6,225,300	$1,634,434	$5,131,266	$501,267	$46,111,607	$6,158,113
$14,996,035	$24,034,289	$1,000,000	$2,400,000	0	$11,088,297	$507,738	0	0
$14,936,523	$12,225,769	$450,000	$32,712	0	$14,427,223	$26,588	0	0
$14,885,197	$12,909,637	$1,000,000	$4,900,000	0	$8,939,030	$46,167	0	$64,807
$14,862,091	$7,212,332	$1,240,000	$2,480,000	0	$10,933,871	$208,220	0	$13,809,565
$14,406,433	$12,814,589	$1,300,000	$2,250,000	0	$10,388,221	$468,212	$20,315,010	$3,617,292
$13,143,616	$9,328,173	$1,555,000	$5,089,967	$6,107,808	$58,218	$332,623	$16,427,059	$3,339,115
$12,943,192	$4,842,309	$1,260,000	$2,499,840	0	$8,368,587	$814,765	0	$1,308,694
$12,448,392	$2,801,684	$1,000,000	$2,500,000	0	$8,853,869	$94,523	$492,380	$1,109,433
$12,276,413	$4,550,439	$1,246,667	$1,905,000	0	$8,707,110	$417,636	$1,967,496	$11,286,488
$12,072,555	$7,996,459	$1,190,566	$3,240,000	0	$7,619,639	$22,350	0	0
$11,144,597	$4,377,986	$1,113,638	$2,171,595	$5,024,937	$2,671,133	$163,294	0	0
$9,986,637	N/A	$1,700,000	$3,672,000	0	$3,251,949	$1,362,688	0	$2,221,086
$9,926,779	$14,838,152	$1,180,248	$3,517,194	0	$4,882,447	$346,890	$423,653	$3,285,880
$9,045,359	$3,985,764	$1,400,000	0	0	$7,063,674	$581,685	0	0
$7,963,732	$3,529,083	$829,500	$1,955,250	0	$5,111,668	$67,314	0	$1,039,268
$7,817,777	$5,631,225	$1,030,000	$1,287,500	0	$5,010,514	$489,763	0	$3,613,779
$7,733,105	$5,432,691	$1,150,000	$4,238,325	0	$1,436,123	$908,657	$8,941,538	$2,439,569
$6,606,134	$5,044,577	$500,000	0	$6,106,134	0	0	0	0
$6,561,132	N/A	$953,250	$1,206,954	$2,435,770	$1,927,187	$37,971	0	0
$6,086,775	$6,543,827	$1,237,500	$467,188	0	$3,948,950	$433,137	0	$3,637,176
$4,834,646	$2,951,175	$1,200,000	$1,980,000	0	$1,527,781	$126,865	0	$487,837
$4,525,029	N/A	$709,616	$237,566	$1,510,575	$2,036,525	$30,747	0	0
$4,048,894	N/A	$975,000	$738,563	0	$2,228,423	$106,908	$4,337,822	$1,403,084
$3,515,443	$3,150,168	$900,000	$25,000	0	$2,559,541	$30,902	0	0
$3,272,484	$2,619,308	$1,260,104	$1,110,497	0	$315,235	$586,648	0	0
$2,855,624	$1,372,122	$833,562	$2,001,318	0	0	$20,744	0	0
$1,981,736	$2,740,878	$750,000	$506,550	0	$452,376	$272,810	0	$829,837
$1,936,150	$1,901,606	$590,000	0	0	$1,335,911	$10,239	0	0
$1,813,759	N/A	$216,667	$1,500,000	0	0	$97,092	0	0
$1,732,590	N/A	$825,846	0	0	$867,050	$39,694	0	$21,961
$1,407,298	$2,143,434	$1,000,000	0	0	$197,553	$209,745	0	$2,407,941
$869,066	N/A	$838,587	0	0	0	$30,479	0	0
$776,197	$1,300,500	$650,000	0	0	0	$126,197	0	0
$5,500,165	$1,916,743	$1,014,500	$2,001,030	0	$2,364,637	$119,998	$8,407,351	$155,242
$5,076,131	N/A	$227,275	$1,018,880	0	$3,794,988	$34,988	0	$24,509
$4,148,071	N/A	$159,092	$621,680	0	$3,299,977	$67,322	0	$12,377
$18,312,110	$9,202,523	$1,300,000	$3,038,800	$6,103,717	$7,521,474	$348,119	$1,952,468	$2,259,099
$10,816,534	$2,900,980	$850,000	$1,933,800	$5,149,657	$2,551,266	$331,811	$1,610,633	$846,255
$5,727,730	$3,355,667	$850,000	$1,933,800	$1,322,332	$1,434,514	$187,084	$1,750,817	$1,049,091
$3,405,422	$179,543	$1,000,000	$2,250,000	0	0	$155,422	0	$66,026


Rank Name (age)
1: Elon Musk (51) Tesla
2: Jen-Hsun Huang (58) NVIDIA
3: Peter Rawlinson* Lucid
4: Mary Barra (60) General Motors
5: Ernest Santi (60) Illinois Tool Works
6: Craig Arnold Eaton
7: Terrence Curtin TE Connectivity
8: Edward Breen DuPont de Nemours
9: Kevin Clark Aptiv
10: Richard Kramer (58) Goodyear Tire & Rubber
11: Richard Kyle (56) Timken
12: Steven Fisher Novelis
13: Mark Mondello (57) Jabil
14: Bryan DeBoer (56) Lithia Motors
15: Patrick Gelsinger* Intel
16: N. Thomas Linebarger (59) Cummins
17: Dara Khosrowshahi Uber Technologies
18: Logan Green Lyft
19: Jeffrey Brown (49) Ally Financial
20: Earl Hesterberg (68) Group 1 Automotive
21: Michael McGarry (64) PPG Industries
22: James Fitterling Dow
23: Frederic Lissalde (55) BorgWarner
24: Joseph Ferraro Avis Budget Group
25: Raymond Scott Lear
26: David Hult Asbury Automotive Group
27: David Smith Sonic Automotive
28: James Farley (60) Ford Motor
29: William Nash CarMax
30: Roger Penske (85) Penske Automotive Group
31: Douglas Del Grosso Adiant
32: Sachin Lawande (55) Visteon
33: David Dauch (58) American Axle & Manufacturing
34: Paul Hennessy Vroom
35: Jeffrey Cote* Sensata Technologies
36: James Kamsickas (55) Dana
37: Brian Kesseler Tenneco
38: Peter Kelly KAR Auction Services
39: Timothy Myers* Arconic
40: Jonathan DeGaynor (56) Stoneridge
41: Mikael Bratt (55) Autolive
42: Majdi Abulaban Superior Industries International
43: Steven Downing Gentex
44: Michael Darrow (65) TrueCar
45: Michael Manley (58) AutoNation
46: Neil Brinker Modine Manufacturing
47: Jeffrey Edwards Cooper-Standard
48: Mark Fields* (61) Hertz Global
49: Robert Scaringe Rivian
Ford: John Lawler VP and CFO
Ford: Michael Amend Chief digital and information officer
Ford: John Field chief advanced technology
GM: Mark Reuss (58) president
GM: Stephen Carlisle (60) EVP, president, North America
GM: Douglas Parks EVP, global product development
GM: Paul Jacobson EVP and CFO

Notes: Reflects 2021 executive data from SEC filings by publicly traded companies. The total compensation figures in this survey will not match the value reported in the summary compensation table of each company's proxy statement, which includes the grant date value of equity awards, whereas this survey includes the realized value of options exercised and stock vested during the fiscal year. In most cases, the realized value of equity is attributable to awards granted in prior fiscal years and does not reflect grants made in 2020.

* New CEO, ** Former CEO (or planning to leave), N/A = Not available

SOURCE: Equilar Inc., equilar.com

August 15, 2022 12:00 AM

George Weykamp

Tesla Inc.'s soaring stock price produced a nearly $23.5 billion windfall for Elon Musk last year, making him the highest-paid CEO at publicly traded U.S. companies in the auto industry by far, according to the Automotive News/Equilar CEO Compensation study.

Most other CEOs in the industry got sizable pay increases in 2021 as well, even though none came remotely close to matching the value of Musk's stock options alone. The median for all CEOs was $12.3 million, which represents a 78 percent increase over the median of those same CEOs on last year's list, which was $6.9 million.

For CEOs who have been in their positions for at least two years, median compensation rose 90 percent from 2020, said Courtney Yu, Equilar's director of research.

Huang: Nvidia CEO ranks No. 2

Jensen Huang of Nvidia, who topped last year's survey, ranked No. 2 behind Musk with total compensation of $560.9 million. Huang's compensation, which included $996,216 in salary and $506.8 million in stock option gains, more than doubled from 2020.

Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson came in at No. 3 with total compensation of $67 million, followed by General Motors' Mary Barra at $62 million, up 54 percent.

"In 2021, the economy was doing very well and the stock market was doing very well and that's reflected in the gains that executives saw this past year," Yu told Automotive News. "In the case of Elon Musk, if you decided to exercise stock options, to the tune of over $23 billion, it was definitely a good year for people owning equity."

Rawlinson: Lucid CEO ranks No. 3

Compensation for supplier CEOs more than doubled from a year ago as boards rewarded them for steering the businesses through the pandemic and parts shortages. Mobility and technology companies, meanwhile, were the only sector of the industry in which the median compensation package declined from a year ago. Having only three automaker CEOs on the list with two full years of tenure skewed the median compensation for that sector significantly higher.

The study looked at 49 automakers, suppliers and public retailers and calculated total compensation as the sum of the executive's base salary, gains from stock option exercise, gains from the vesting of stock awards, cash bonus payouts, and other forms of compensation. Equilar's survey includes the realized value of equity awards, which is why its numbers can differ from the total compensation reported in regulatory filings.

Musk earned nothing in 2020 using Equilar's methodology because he had no base salary and didn't exercise any stock options. Yu said that in 2021 Musk had stock options that were about to expire from previous years and received a large gain because of the increase in Tesla's stock price. In 2019, Musk made $30.5 million.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Rawlinson’s 2021 total compensation included stock award gains of $40.8 million and stock gains of $16.6 million. Barra earned over $26 million in stock option gains and $25.1 million in stock award gains as part of her 2021 total compensation.

Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley ranked No. 28 on the list with total compensation coming in at just under $10 million in 2021. His compensation included a base salary of $1.7 million and $3.2 million in stock award gains.

Three Ford and four GM executives below the CEOs also were included in the survey.

GM President Mark Reuss was the highest paid non-CEO listed, at $18.3 million, followed by GM Executive Vice President Stephen Carlisle at $10.8 million. Ford CFO John Lawler received compensation of $5.5 million in 2021.

The six major publicly traded dealership groups saw significant increases in CEO compensation in 2021. Five of the companies increased their CEO compensation significantly. The sixth, AutoNation, appointed Mike Manley as CEO in November 2021.

Sonic Automotive CEO David Smith saw the largest increase in salary, with his compensation rising 155 percent from 2021 to $11.1 million. This comes as dealership groups are seeing record-high new- and used-vehicle prices, and thus surging profits.