Revealing the 'huge' income of car company leaders
The booming stock market and economy have helped car company executives earn huge incomes.
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| Tesla CEO Elon Musk had the highest income among automaker leaders in 2021. Photo: Getty Images |
According to the survey results of the siteAutomotive News, Mr. Musk earned $23.5 billion in 2021, the highest income among leaders of automobile companies listed on the US stock exchange.
"In 2021, both the economy and the stock market are doing well, and that's reflected in the earnings of automakers," said Courtney Yu, research director at Equilar, which conducted the survey for Automotive News.
Elon Musk wasn’t the only car CEO who made a fortune last year. Total compensation for automaker CEOs increased 78% in 2021, with an average of $12.3 million, nearly double the $6.9 million in 2020. The compensation of CEOs who had held the position for at least two years increased by 90%.
Mary Barra, the "female general" of General Motors, is the third highest-paid CEO of the car company in the US. She earned $62 million in 2021, up 1.5 times from $40 million in 2020. Meanwhile, CEO Peter Rawlinson of Lucid "pocketed" $67 million.
Not only did CEOs of automakers increase their income in 2021, the survey also showed that the income of suppliers in the auto industry increased more than twice compared to 2020, in the context that they also had to "fight" with the shortage of components and spare parts.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made $560.9 million last year. But like Elon Musk, most of that came from stock options, which accounted for $506.8 million of Huang’s total compensation in 2021./.