Quick facts:
- Tesla has helped make Elon Musk the world’s richest person, but the EV maker’s other executives and directors are rewarded for their work, too.
- Among the Tesla executives who make the most in terms of stock awards are two executives and three members of the company’s board of directors.
Tesla is one of the world’s most valuable companies, and as its market capitalization continues to rise, so do the fortunes of its investors—and its highest-level employees, who get compensation in stock on top of their base pay.
Tesla’s shareholders will vote at the company’s annual meeting on Nov. 6, 2025, on whether to approve a plan that would award their CEO, Elon Musk, with a generous stock compensation plan for meeting certain company targets, including reaching a market capitalization of $8.5 trillion. Tesla’s market cap is around $1.5 trillion as of early October 2025.
Tesla’s executives also stand to benefit handsomely from this ambitious plan as the company hands out options.
Here are the top five Tesla executives and directors with the largest stock compensation packages.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Who are Tesla’s top-compensated executives?
Elon Musk is Tesla’s largest individual shareholder, holding 19.8% of the company, according to a September 2025 proxy statement. Other executives and directors also own significant portions of the company based on Tesla’s computation of beneficial ownership, including shares held directly and in trusts, as well as stock options.
Of the five who had the biggest stock compensation aside from Elon Musk, two are named executive officers (NEOs) and three are directors. Even though directors aren’t direct employees, Tesla — per its Corporate Governance Guidelines — expects board members who have their own specialties of expertise to contribute to Tesla to “invest the time and effort necessary to understand and oversee the implementation of the Company’s business and financial strategies, including, without limitation, in areas such as sustainability and AI [artificial intelligence].”
Musk’s own 19.8% beneficial ownership stake in Tesla translates to about $286 billion based on its early October share price, and that dwarfs the ownership of all other employees. Still, his two most trusted executives, Xiaotong (Tom) Zhu and Vaibhav Taneja, hold shares that could make them billionaires a few times over if Tesla’s 2025 CEO Performance Award plan plays out successfully.
Xiaotong (Tom) Zhu
- Position: Executive Officer (Senior Vice President of Automotive)
- Shares beneficially owned: 2,178,508
- Market value of shares as of early October 2025: $948 million
Tom Zhu is senior vice president for the Asia-Pacific region and global vehicle manufacturing, and he plays a crucial role in Tesla’s projects in China, which is the second-biggest market for its electric vehicles. China accounted for more than a third of total vehicles delivered globally in 2024.
Zhu joined Tesla in 2014 and led the construction and operations of Gigafactory Shanghai. He has more than 2.1 million shares, valued at around $948 million as of October 2025.
Kimbal Musk
- Position: Director
- Shares beneficially owned: 1,463,220
- Market value of shares as of early October 2025: $637 million
Kimbal Musk is Elon’s younger brother. His Tesla biography describes him as an entrepreneur who co-founded and invested in companies in the technology, hospitality, entertainment, and agriculture sectors. He and Elon co-founded Zip2 Corporation, the online map service whose 1999 sale to Compaq helped contribute to Elon’s rise in wealth.
Tesla’s proxy statement said Kimbal Musk has “a robust understanding of mission-driven ventures.” He joined Tesla’s board in 2004, and he was also on the board of SpaceX, another of Elon’s ventures, from 2002 to 2022.
Vaibhav Taneja
- Position: Chief Financial Officer
- Shares beneficially owned: 1,251,002
- Market value of shares as of early October 2025: $544 million
Vaibhav Taneja, a CPA, joined Tesla as assistant corporate controller in 2017, when Tesla bought SolarCity, his former employer. He has served as the company’s chief financial officer since 2023. Taneja has helped guide Tesla toward financial stability as it moved to become the world’s most valuable automotive company.
Ira Ehrenpreis
- Position: Director
- Shares beneficially owned: 855,394
- Market value of shares as of early October 2025: $372 million
Ehrenpreis has been a director since 2007. With almost three decades as a venture capitalist, he’s valued at Tesla for providing “the Company with stability and experience as it navigates through different challenges.”
His expertise is in the energy, technology, and venture capital industries. As a board member, Ehrenpreis is chair of the compensation committee.
James Murdoch
- Position: Director
- Shares beneficially owned: 794,306
- Market value of shares as of early October 2025: $345 million
Murdoch has been a director since 2017, and according to Tesla, he brings to the company “his extensive knowledge of international markets and strategies and experience with the adoption of new technologies.” Murdoch is a son of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, and he served on the board of News Corporation from 2013 to 2020.
#Teslas #topcompensated #executives #amp #directors #Elon #Musk