Last year, Vaibhav Taneja, the finance chief for the electric carmaker, was paid $139 million.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Vaibhav Taneja, an executive of Indian descent who has served as Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since 2023, reportedly made an incredible $139 million in 2024. This amount dwarfs his base salary of $400,000 and exceeds the profits of well-known tech CEOs like Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella. It is mostly driven by stock options and equity incentives given following his elevation.
According to the company’s 2025 Proxy Statement, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai received $10.73 million in 2024, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received $79.106 million. With a $139 million salary, Mr. Taneja outpaid both Nadella and Pichai, perhaps making news as the largest compensation for a finance leader in decades.
With shares that were close to $250 at the time of the award and vesting over four years, Mr. Taneja, 47, who joined Tesla in 2017, profited from a growing stock price. Tesla’s shares rose to almost $342 by May 19, 2025, even though the company’s EV deliveries and earnings were dropping. The previous CFO record of $86 million, set by Nikola’s CFO in 2020, prior to its bankruptcy in 2024, is surpassed by this package.
Why Does It Matter?
Given the major challenges facing the electric vehicle (EV) sector, such as dwindling profit margins, increased competition, and diminishing deliveries, this substantial compensation package comes at a critical time for Tesla. As Tesla’s financial plans and executive pay practices come under more scrutiny, Mr. Taneja’s salary has also come under investigation.
Elon Musk, the CEO and co-founder of Tesla, is presently contesting a Delaware court decision that nullified his $56 billion remuneration package, which was among the biggest in the company’s history. Musk contends that his compensation was appropriate because it contributed to Tesla’s remarkable expansion and made the company a world leader in electric vehicles and renewable energy.
Concerning Vaibhav Taneja
In addition to being a trained chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (2000) and a certified public accountant (2006), Mr. Taneja was born in India and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi University in 1999. Prior to joining Tesla in 2017, he was vice president and then corporate controller of SolarCity, a solar energy firm that Tesla had acquired in 2016. He oversaw the accounting teams’ smooth merger.
Taneja was a Senior Manager in Assurance at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 17 years before to joining SolarCity. In addition, he supports Tesla’s growth in India as a director of Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited. Taneja, who has more than 20 years of experience in accounting, finance, and multinational operations, is essential to Tesla’s financial strategy and expansion internationally.
