Ford CEO Jim Farley's 2021 compensation nearly doubles

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley's total compensation soared 93 percent to $22.8 million in 2021, his first full year as the company's chief executive.

The increase is largely attributed to Farley's stock awards, which more than tripled to about $16 million, according to the company's annual proxy statement filed Friday. Farley's pay included a $1.7 million base salary, up 19 percent over 2020. His compensation also included $830,305 for personal use of aircraft.

Ford executives hit 135 percent of their business performance targets in 2021 compared with just 23 percent the previous year, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Ford said executives exceeded cash flow, pretax earnings and quality targets, although they achieved none of their revenue goals.

Despite challenges from semiconductor shortages, Ford posted 2021 net income of $17.9 billion after racking up a $1.3 billion loss in 2020 as the pandemic spread. The company's 2021 earnings included a $7.4 billion profit in North America.

Ford posted adjusted EBIT for 2021 of $10 billion, roughly four times its 2020 earnings. Coupled with an EBIT margin of 7.3 percent, it was Ford's strongest performance since 2016. Ford's 2021 revenue totaled $136 billion, up from $127 billion in 2020, marking the second consecutive year it generated more revenue than General Motors.

The company's 2021 performance led to sizable bonuses, including $3.7 million for Farley and $2 million for CFO John Lawler. The automaker's compensation committee said it calculated Lawler's bonus on a different scale than his colleagues because of his "exceptional performance" in 2021.

"He did an exceptional job in his role as chief financial officer in 2021 despite very significant financial headwinds caused by the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and global supply chain issues, which significantly impacted our vehicle volume production," the board committee wrote. "Specifically, the financial performance of the company was above plan despite production losses due to the semiconductor supply shortage, the dividend was reinstated in the fourth quarter of 2021, and significant efforts were made to strengthen the balance sheet by repurchasing and redeeming $7.6 billion of high-cost debt, deleveraging the balance sheet and significantly reducing our ongoing interest expense."

Lawler's total compensation in 2021 jumped about 60 percent to $9.4 million.

Executive Chair Bill Ford's total compensation rose about 16 percent to $18.6 million. His base salary of $1.7 million was unchanged, but his stock awards more than doubled to $13.8 million. His compensation also included $400,895 for personal use of aircraft and $1.3 million for security.

Farley, Lawler and Ford each received a "pandemic response award," valued at $685,319, $181,229 and $405,000, respectively.

The company, which plans a reorganization under Farley that will split it into two divisions focused on electric and internal combustion vehicles, listed two newcomers among its five highest-paid executives in 2021: Michael Amend, chief enterprise technology officer, and Doug Field, chief EV and digital systems officer for Ford Model e.

Amend, who joined Ford in September, earned $12.8 million in total compensation, including a $227,275 base salary and an $800,000 bonus.

Field, who also joined the company in September, made $10.8 million in total compensation in 2021, including a $159,092 base salary and $500,000 bonus.