Tesla: How much does Elon Musk really pay his teams ? (and it's really not glorious)

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Between mirage and reality, the Tesla empire has been forced to reveal its somewhat unusual salary strategy. Internal data on 100,000 employees, obtained in a document by Business Insider, highlight an atypical compensation policy: modest base salaries offset by potentially lucrative stock grants. A risky bet for employees, forced to choose between immediate financial stability and hypothetical enrichment. A policy that perfectly reflects Elon Musk: disruptive and highly polarizing.

The Hidden Side of Tesla Salaries

The automaker favors a unique approach: offering fixed salaries below market rates, while enticing candidates with promises of shares. This strategy consists of using shares as a lever to attract and retain talent, by offering them a piece of the pie if the company succeeds. This is a very (too?) common practice in start-ups and companies in this sector, but it carries many risks, especially if the value of the shares falls. At Tesla, they tend to have roller coasters, like this summer, when they collapsed.

The numbers speak for themselves: for full-time positions in the United States, base salaries range from $35,000 to $324,000 annually, putting Tesla at the back of the pack among the tech giants, just ahead of Amazon.

Tesla employee compensation data as of December 2021, showing median and maximum salaries and stock awards by position. © Madison Hoff and Randy Yeip/Business Insider

A system calibrated for the “ultra-motivated”

“The entire system is designed to identify the fanatics,” says a current Tesla employee familiar with the company’s hiring processes. The hiring process for engineers illustrates this philosophy: no fewer than nine interviews, sometimes spanning months. “ It's not just about skills or knowledge. We're looking for people who are willing to learn and put in the extra hours,” says a former recruiter who left the company in 2024.

Stock compensation is Tesla's main selling point. In 2020 and 2021, 44 U.S. employees were offered shares worth more than $1 million. Senior executives can even receive up to $20 million in stock, as demonstrated by the cases of Drew Baglino and Zachary Kirkhorn, former senior vice president and chief financial officer, respectively.

This strategy is, of course, not without risks to employees' mental health. One former sales executive likens these stock awards to “golden handcuffs”: “The stock is the main bait. Even if you're not satisfied, you keep your head down and wait for the vesting period.” In fact, doing so will result in Tesla does everything to create a real financial dependence on the company's performance, which can then generate considerable stress among employees.

A company veteran warns new recruits: “I was lucky enough to come in early, but I see a lot of young engineers hoping for the same benefits. I doubt they'll get them “. So far, neither Tesla nor its CEO have responded to requests from Business Insider after the document was published. Is that really surprising?? Executives, including Musk, are often the main beneficiaries of these compensation policies. Sometimes, silence is golden, and the expression takes on its full meaning here.

• Tesla offers modest base salaries, offset by stock award plans.
• The compensation system favors the most loyal employees and those who are most likely to give the most time to the company.
• The latter is very profitable for managers, but risky for employees when the stock price fluctuates.

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