This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) board members collectively received more than $3 billion in stock awards, far surpassing compensation at other major tech and automotive firms.
Between 2018 and 2020, Tesla directors were granted around $12 million on average in combined cash and stock, data from compensation specialist Equilar showed. Their pay was roughly eight times the average for Alphabet (GOOG) directors and exceeded that of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Meta (NASDAQ:META), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).
The $3 billion total went to five of Tesla’s eight current nonexecutive board members. The remaining three, Jeffrey Straubel, Jack Hartung, and Joe Gebbia, joined after the board had suspended compensation, the report noted.
The stock awards’ value surged alongside Tesla’s share price, even though the company had not issued new grants since 2020 following a shareholder lawsuit settlement.
Tesla’s board pay highlights the growing gap in director compensation between the EV leader and other major technology companies.
