According to Forbes, Elon Musk, the head of electric-vehicle maker Tesla, takes the top spot on the list of the most highly compensated chief executives in the United States. His professional qualities allow the company to make money and develop, and employees to work for pleasure.
Such well-trained and qualified professionals are the highest-paid in the labor market. Last year, Musk was paid about $11 billion in Tesla stock options, Forbes estimated. As a result, in terms of earnings, he turned out to be well above Paycom CEO Chad Richison and 1Life Healthcare CEO Amir Dan Rubin, who topped most of the similar earnings lists for the previous year. In 2020, Richison and Rubin were awarded compensation valued at $211 million and $199 million respectively.
The options award is Musk's own idea. This gives him the right to buy a total of 101.2 million Tesla shares at a split-adjusted price of $70 per share. At the same time, Tesla shares are worth about $670 apiece on the stock exchange. However, the chief executive gets paid only if the company succeeds in the long term. Thus, at the end of last year, Musk received four tranches of options awards worth $13.3 billion after Tesla's stock gains and financial performance hit targets.
Notably, US company Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 as a developer and manufacturer of electric vehicles and related technologies. It is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
