Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2025 · Filings through 2026-10-19

Tesla (TSLA)

CEO Elon Musk was paid $158,359,009,867 in fiscal year 2025 (SEC filing 0001104659-26-053166 ↗): executive and director compensation, incentive-plan design, equity activity, and governance — every figure in this brief is traceable to its exact location in the company’s SEC filing — the document, the section, the page, and the table, linked directly.

$158,359,009,867
Elon Musk total, FY2025
—
CEO pay percentile vs peers
0:1
CEO-to-median pay ratio
78.67%
Say-on-pay support, latest vote

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Sample answer — “What is the CEO’s total compensation?”
- Elon Tesla (and Chief Executive Officer), FY2025 total compensation $158,359,009,867 (base salary $0) [exec_comp, SEC accession 0001104659-26-116700, filed 2026-10-19]

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TSLA's next annual pay disclosure, estimated December 11, 2026.est. Filing ↗

01

Summary Compensation Table — fiscal year 2025

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Elon Musk$0$0$158,359,009,867$0$0—$0$158,359,009,867
Technoking of Tesla and Chief Executive Officer
Elon Tesla00158,359,009,8670000158,359,009,867
and Chief Executive Officer
Vaibhav Taneja400,000000003,000403,000
Chief Financial Officer
Tom Zhu364,3380000011,984376,322
SVP, APAC and Global Vehicle Manufacturing

A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.

Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive

Named executive officerFY2025 totalFY2024 totalFY2023 totalΔ FY2024→2025
Elon Musk$158,359,009,867$0$0↑ +158,359,009,867
Elon Tesla158,359,009,867———
Vaibhav Taneja403,000139,472,935278,000↓ −139,069,935
Tom Zhu376,322———

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

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Companies that benchmark against TSLA
11 companies name TSLA as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses TSLA in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named TSLA in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

01b

Executives — the named officers

One page per officer: the same table above, read for one person at a time — his own figure and every fiscal year the register holds.

ExecutiveRoleFY2025 total
Elon MuskCEO$158,359,009,867
Andrew BaglinoExecutive$124,620
Vaibhav TanejaCFO$403,000
Xiaotong ZhuSVP—
01c

Board of directors

One page per director: the seat, the committees and the fee table, read for one person at a time.

DirectorRoleFY2025 total
Ira EhrenpreisIndependent Director—
Jack HartungDirector—
James MurdochIndependent Director—
JB StraubelIndependent Director—
Joe GebbiaIndependent Director—
Kathleen Wilson-ThompsonIndependent Director—
Kimbal MuskDirector—
Robyn DenholmChair of the Board—
02

Equity transactions since the proxy statement was filed

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

03

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Elon MuskPSU2025-11-06423,743,904———$132,298,849,867
Elon MuskRSU2025-08-15——96,000,000—26,060,160,000
03b

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Elon Musk$26,060,160,000$132,298,849,867$083.5%

% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.

04

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
MuskPSU423,743,904—$190,566,108,507
MuskRSU96,000,000—43,173,120,000
Vaibhav TanejaRSU71,920—32,343,862
Vaibhav TanejaOption686,501249.85—
Tom ZhuOption113,020180.14—
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

Tesla's compensation program consists primarily of salary or wages and equity awards, with the goal of providing competitive pay and aligning the interests of NEOs with long-term shareholder interests by tying compensation to long-term stock price and the achievement of financial, operational, and strategic objectives.

CEO STI target (% of salary)—
CEO LTI target (% of salary)—
Independent consultantCompensia, Inc.
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedgingtrue
Anti-pledgingfalse
06

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20252025-11-061,931,965,361523,895,38013,543,83578.67%Passed
20242024-06-131,834,794,743449,639,30325,834,84479.42%Passed
20232023-05-161,714,112,661172,116,0606,838,56690.88%Passed
20202020-09-2293,570,71217,102,8881,038,47184.55%Passed

Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year's compensation.

Say-on-pay — history, company's computation

Meeting yearMeeting dateApproval — company's computation
20252025-11-0678.67%a
20242024-06-1379.42%b
20232023-05-1690.88%c

a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “​ 62 2024 Proxy Statement TABLE OF CONTENTS With respect to approval of the Texas Redomestication and the adoption of the Texas Redomestication Resolution, you may vote "FOR", "AGAINST" or "ABSTAIN." Abstentions will only be counted toward the tabulations of voting power present and entitled to vote on the Texas Redomestication proposal for the Conversion Disinterested Standard and will have the same effect as votes against the proposal for both the Conversion Standard and the Conversion Disinterested Standard.”.

c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have no effect on Proposal Three.”.

Approval percentages are the company's own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.

07

CEO pay ratio

Ratio (CEO : median employee)0 : 1
CEO total compensation$0
Median employee compensation$57,243
08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2025

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Robyn DenholmIndependent · Board Chair · Audit (Chair) · Compensation · Governance · Disclosure Controls$0$0$0—$0$0
Joe GebbiaIndependent · Audit000—00
Kimbal MuskNot independent · Newly elected000—00
JB StraubelIndependent000—00
Elon MuskEmployee director—————0
James MurdochIndependent · Audit · Governance000—00
Kathleen Wilson-ThompsonIndependent · Compensation · Governance · Disclosure Controls000—00
Ira EhrenpreisIndependent · Compensation (Chair) · Governance000—00
Jack HartungIndependent · Audit · Newly elected000—00
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$0
Annual equity retainer$0
Per board meeting fee—
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)—
Stock ownership guidelineeach director is required to own shares of Tesla stock equal in value to at least five times the annual cash retainer for directors
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$0
Equity awards (grant-date value)$0
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$0

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

10b

Chief executive pay against the peer group

Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company's own proxy statement.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1Tesla2025Elon Musk$0$158,359,009,867$0$0$158,359,009,867

Each peer's compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer's figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.

10d

Frequently asked questions

Who was the highest-paid executive at Tesla in fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Elon Musk (Technoking of Tesla and Chief Executive Officer) was the highest-paid executive at Tesla in fiscal 2025, with total compensation of $158,359,009,867.
What is Tesla's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio?
As disclosed, Tesla's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 0:1.
How did shareholders vote on Tesla's executive compensation?
As disclosed, 78.67% of shareholders supported Tesla's executive compensation in the latest say-on-pay vote.
How much does Tesla spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Tesla reported total board compensation of $0 for fiscal 2025.

Answers are drawn only from the figures disclosed in this brief and cited to their location in the source filing. Where a figure required for an answer is not disclosed, that is stated rather than estimated.

11

Source register

Each figure's location is given both for the eye (section · page · table · row · column) and for a script (table/row/column index and exact character span in the filed document). Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.

#SupportsDocumentFiledAccessionLocation in document
1Section 01, Elon MuskDEF 14A2026-04-300001104659-26-053166Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 158,359,009,867. Filing ↗
2Section 01, Elon TeslaDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “2025 Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 158,359,009,867. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c47 · span 788383–788398
3Section 01, Vaibhav TanejaDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “2025 Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 403,000. Filing ↗machine: r4 · c47 · span 808036–808043
4Section 01, Tom ZhuDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “2025 Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 376,322. Filing ↗machine: r7 · c47 · span 827627–827634
5Section 03, Elon Musk PSUDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards in 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗
6Section 03, Elon Musk RSUDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards in 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗
7Section 07, pay ratioDEF 14A2025-09-170001104659-25-090866Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 0 : 1. Filing ↗machine: span 1905498–1905501
8Section 08, Robyn DenholmDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
9Section 08, Joe GebbiaDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
10Section 08, Kimbal MuskDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
11Section 08, JB StraubelDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
12Section 08, Elon MuskDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
13Section 08, James MurdochDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
14Section 08, Kathleen Wilson-ThompsonDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
15Section 08, Ira EhrenpreisDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
16Section 08, Jack HartungDEF 14A2026-10-190001104659-26-116700Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
17Section 06, 2025 voteForm 8-K2025-11-070001104659-25-108507Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 78.67% (votes for as printed: 1,931,965,361). Filing ↗
18Section 06, 2024 voteForm 8-K2024-06-140001104659-24-071439Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 79.42% (votes for as printed: 1,834,794,743). Filing ↗
19Section 06, 2023 voteForm 8-K2023-05-220001564590-23-007379Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 90.88% (votes for as printed: 1,714,112,661). Filing ↗
20Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)Computed——Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1)
21Section 03b vehicle mix (computed)Computed——RSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).machine: formula: sums + PSU ratio
22Section 09b board cost (computed)Computed——Cash 0 + equity 0 + all other 0 = 0, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 0
23Tesla (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-300001104659-26-053166CEO total compensation as printed in Tesla's own proxy. As printed: 158,359,009,867. Filing ↗

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