A Tesla Executive Received a Record Pay Package, and It's Not Elon Musk The 47-year-old executive received the highest pay recorded for the position since modern reporting began in 2006.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Tesla awarded its Chief Financial Officer, Vaibhav Taneja, nearly $140 million last year in total compensation.
- The record-high pay consisted mainly of stock options and equity awards, along with a base salary of $303,000.
- Taneja has been working at Tesla in various roles for eight years.
Tesla's Chief Financial Officer, Vaibhav Taneja, 47, received a $139.5 million pay package last year.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Taneja's pay was the highest ever recorded for a CFO since modern reporting started in 2006. The compensation consisted mainly of the stock options and equity awards Taneja received in October 2024 because of his promotion to CFO in August 2023. It also included a base salary of around $303,000, according to an April 30 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In comparison, the median base pay for a Tesla analyst is $93,000, with median stock grants of $20,000. Tesla employs around 120,000 workers globally, per CNBC.
Taneja has been with Tesla in various financial roles since February 2017, after working for nearly two decades at accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and renewable energy company SolarCity.
Related: 'They Need to Expand': Tesla's Annual Sales Declined For the First Time in 2024. Here's Why.
His compensation beat the previous record set by Kim Brady, who received $86 million in pay in 2020 as the then-CFO of electric truck company Nikola. Brady retired from the role in March 2023. Nikola has recently encountered financial difficulties, filing for bankruptcy in February after failing to raise additional funds or secure a buyer.
Other CFOs in comparable companies were less highly compensated. Microsoft, which belongs to the Magnificent Seven group of high-performing tech companies along with Tesla, awarded its 53-year-old CFO, Amy Hood, around $25.8 million in compensation last year. Another Magnificent Seven company, Meta, compensated its 39-year-old CFO, Susan Li, around $23.6 million in 2024.
Taneja received more compensation in 2024 than his boss, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was not paid for his work last year. Musk's $56 billion compensation package was first approved by shareholders in 2018 and depended on Musk leading Tesla to hit a series of revenue, market cap, and operational milestones. Musk achieved the targets, but has not received his pay after a Delaware judge determined last year that the compensation was unfair to shareholders. Musk appealed that decision in March.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Visual China Group via Getty Images
Taneja's high pay contrasts with Tesla's recent poor performance. In the first three months of this year, Tesla's net profits plunged by 71% to $409 million compared to the same time last year. Tesla's revenue also fell 9% to $19.3 billion, and its deliveries dropped 13% to 336,681 cars. The delivery decline marked the largest quarterly drop in Tesla's history.
Tesla shares were up about 1.3% today.
Related: With Tesla Down 71% in Net Income, Elon Musk Says He'll Spend Less Time at DOGE
