Revealing the 'huge' incomes of car company executives.
The booming stock market and economy have helped car company executives earn huge incomes.
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| Tesla CEO Elon Musk was the highest-paid executive among automakers in 2021. Photo: Getty Images |
According to the survey results from the website.Airport PageMusk earned $23.5 billion in 2021, making him the highest-paid executive among executives of publicly traded automotive companies in the U.S.
"In 2021, both the economy and the stock market were thriving, and that was reflected in the earnings of automakers' executives," said Courtney Yu, research director at Equilar, the company that conducts the survey for Automotive News.
Elon Musk wasn't the only CEO in the automotive industry to rake in big money last year. The total income of automotive CEOs increased by 78% in 2021, averaging $12.3 million, nearly double the $6.9 million average of 2020. The income of CEOs who had held the position for at least two years increased by as much as 90%.
Mary Barra, the "female leader" of General Motors, is the third highest-paid CEO in the US. She earned $62 million in 2021, a 1.5-fold increase from her $40 million in 2020. Meanwhile, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson pocketed $67 million.
Not only did CEOs of car manufacturers see increased income in 2021, but the survey also revealed that the income of suppliers in the automotive industry more than doubled compared to 2020, as they also had to "battle" with shortages of components and parts.
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, earned $560.9 million last year. However, like Elon Musk, the majority of that income came from stock options, accounting for $506.8 million of Huang's total earnings in 2021.
