Current:Home > ContactHow Elon Musk’s $44.9B Tesla pay package compares with the most generous plans for other U.S. CEOs -WealthRoots Academy
How Elon Musk’s $44.9B Tesla pay package compares with the most generous plans for other U.S. CEOs
View
Date:2025-04-17 01:19:19
Even though the median U.S. CEO pay package last year was nearly 200 times more than a worker in the middle of their company pay scales, Elon Musk’s record-setting Tesla compensation dwarfs them by comparison.
Tesla shareholders on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favor of restoring Musk’s 10-year pay plan, valued by the company in April at $44.9 billion. It was worth more early in the year, but Tesla’s stock value has fallen about 25% since then.
The all-stock package, approved by the board and shareholders in 2018, rewards Musk for hitting milestones that include raising Tesla’s market value, pretax income and revenue.
It had been tossed out by a Delaware judge in January who said the process for approving it was “deeply flawed.” The court ruled that Musk controlled the company’s board, and shareholders weren’t fully informed.
But the company said Musk deserves the pay because he turned Tesla into the top-selling electric vehicle maker in the world, increasing its market value by billions.
Even with the reapproval vote, Musk won’t get access to the stock options just yet. Tesla is expected to ask the judge to revisit her decision in light of the vote, and if she doesn’t, the company probably will appeal the ruling to Delaware’s Supreme Court. The whole process could take months.
No matter the outcome, Musk’s package — the largest award to a CEO of a U.S. public company — is far above what’s been granted to other chief executives. Here’s how the package compares:
WITH THE MEDIAN CEO PAY
The median pay package for an S&P 500 U.S. CEO last year was $16.3 million, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar. If you multiply that by 10 to get $163 million for a decade of work, Musk’s earnings still would be 275 times greater.
In her January ruling that struck down the package, Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick wrote that Musk’s package, then worth about $56 billion, was 250 times larger than the median peer CEO’s pay plan.
WITH INDIVIDUAL CEOS
The top earner in the AP’s survey was Hock Tan, CEO of artificial intelligence company Broadcom Inc. His package, mostly consisting of stock awards, was valued at about $162 million, when given to Tan at the start of fiscal 2023. Thanks to a surging stock price, Broadcom in March valued Tan’s pay package, plus older options he hadn’t yet cashed in, at $767.7 million. That’s an amount easily eclipsed by Musk’s potential haul of 304 million shares worth almost $45 billion.
Other CEOs at the top of AP’s survey are William Lansing of Fair Isaac Corp, ($66.3 million); Tim Cook of Apple Inc. ($63.2 million); Hamid Moghadam of Prologis Inc. ($50.9 million); and Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix ($49.8 million).
Technically, Musk got no compensation last year because he didn’t get any stock options. But he stands to get even richer if his pay package goes through.
WITH TESLA WORKERS
It’s difficult to calculate what Musk’s annual pay would have been last year. The company says he got nothing. But if his compensation package makes it through the courts, his pay will be in the billions. According to the company’s proxy filing this year, the median annual pay of a non-CEO Tesla employee last year was $45,811.
veryGood! (46755)
Related
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- Michigan 2-year-old dies in accidental shooting at home
- Cyberattacks on hospitals thwart India's push to digitize health care
- Obama Broadens Use of ‘Climate Tests’ in Federal Project Reviews
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- Government Delays Pipeline Settlement Following Tribe Complaint
- Somalia battles hunger as it braces for famine during a prolonged drought
- From COVID to mpox to polio: Our 9 most-read 'viral' stories in 2022
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert cancels publication of novel set in Russia
Ranking
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- U.S. Nuclear Fleet’s Dry Docks Threatened by Storms and Rising Seas
- Fossil Fuel Production Emits More Methane Than Previously Thought, NOAA Says
- Editors' picks: Our best global photos of 2022 range from heart-rending to hopeful
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- CVS and Walgreens agree to pay $10 billion to settle lawsuits linked to opioid sales
- Chef Sylvain Delpique Shares What’s in His Kitchen, Including a $5 Must-Have
- How did COVID warp our sense of time? It's a matter of perception
Recommendation
Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
LeBron James' Wife Savannah Explains Why She's Stayed Away From the Spotlight in Rare Interview
Today’s Climate: September 22, 2010
Yet Another Biofuel Hopeful Goes Public, Bets on Isobutanol
North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
EPA’s Fracking Finding Misled on Threat to Drinking Water, Scientists Conclude
J. Harrison Ghee, Alex Newell become first openly nonbinary Tony winners for acting
I felt it drop like a rollercoaster: Driver describes I-95 collapse in Philadelphia