Indian-Origin Tesla Executive Earned Record-Breaking $139.5 Million In 2024, Surpassing Pichai And Nadella

Vaibhav Taneja, an Indian-origin executive and Tesla's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since 2023, reportedly earned a whopping $139 million in 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported. This figure, driven primarily by stock options and equity awards granted after his promotion, dwarfs his base salary of $400,000 and surpasses the earnings of prominent tech CEOs like Microsoft's Satya Nadella and Google's Sundar Pichai.

In 2024, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's compensation package was $79.106 million, while Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai took home $10.73 million, according to the company's 2025 Proxy Statement.Mr Taneja's salary of $139 million eclipsed both Nadella's and Pichai's, making headlines as potentially the highest pay for a finance chief in decades. 

Mr Taneja, 47, who joined Tesla in 2017, benefited from a rising stock price, with shares near $250 at the time of the award, vesting over four years. By May 19, 2025, Tesla's stock reached approximately $342, despite the company facing declining EV deliveries and profits. This package outstrips the prior CFO record of $86 million set by Nikola's CFO in 2020, before its 2024 bankruptcy.

Why It Matters?

This substantial pay package comes at a pivotal moment for Tesla, as the electric vehicle (EV) industry faces significant hurdles, including declining deliveries, shrinking profit margins, and intensified competition. Mr Taneja's compensation has also drawn attention amid broader scrutiny of Tesla's financial strategies and executive pay practices.

Tesla's co-founder and CEO, Elon Musk, is currently appealing a Delaware court ruling that voided his $56 billion compensation package, one of the largest in corporate history. Musk argues that his payout was justified, as it fueled Tesla's extraordinary growth, transforming it into a global leader in EVs and renewable energy.

About Vaibhav Taneja

Born in India, Mr Taneja holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Delhi University (1999) and is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (2000) and a Certified Public Accountant (2006). He joined Tesla in 2017, from SolarCity, a solar energy company that Tesla acquired in 2016, where he originally served as vice president and later corporate controller and led the successful integration of both companies' accounting teams. 

Before SolarCity, Taneja spent 17 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, rising to Senior Manager in Assurance. He is also a director at Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited, supporting Tesla's India expansion. With over two decades of experience in finance, accounting, and multinational operations, Taneja plays a key role in Tesla's financial strategy and global growth.