Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm’s compensation package outpaced that of her peers by a significant margin, with five-figure excess over the next-highest paid board chair, a disparity CEO Elon Musk deemed unproductive.
In 2018, Elon Musk reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after admitting that his August 7, 2018 tweet about having “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share was false; as a result, he was forced to step down as chairman of Tesla’s board.
Musk primarily selected Robyn Denholm to serve as the new chair, dubbing her title an ineffective “honorific”?
Not necessarily so – the title ‘Chairman’ does not inherently imply a lack of interest in running the company. “I plan to step down as CEO of Tesla in three years.”
Denholm profited handsomely from his largely ceremonial role.
Since taking the helm at Tesla, Elon Musk’s chairperson, she has reaped a staggering $530 million in value from stock option compensation, nearly entirely through inventory possibility compensation.
For the majority of her business, revenue was generated over the course of the previous 12 months.
The New York Times published a report investigating Denholm’s compensation, revealing she received approximately five times more than the highest-paid non-executive chairman, aside from herself.
Tesla’s compensation to Chairman Robyn Denholm was approximately five times higher than UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley’s total compensation.
Stephen Hemsley, non-executive chairman of UnitedHealth Group, holds the second-highest spot in terms of revenue generated from share promotions within his organization. Mr. Since November 2018, Hemsley has garnered more than $100 million from the sale of his UnitedHealth shares, a significant windfall stemming from his tenure as the company’s chief executive officer when he acquired the entire inventory.
While Musk’s stature is reflective of the role’s prestige, the lack of transparency surrounding Denholm’s accomplishments during his tenure as chairman is puzzling.
The majority of Tesla’s board, with Elon Musk at its helm, governs the company alongside Musk, who has been granted significant autonomy for several years.
The board has consistently supported his every move, authorized him a $55 billion CEO compensation package, and remained mum when he warned Tesla shareholders that he wouldn’t develop AI products at Tesla unless given a larger, more controlling stake in the company, or threatened to fire Tesla’s entire charging team as a warning to the top performers.
Recently, concerns have been raised about Tesla’s response to protests at its stores and product boycotts linked to Elon Musk’s political activism, which has sparked widespread discontent among a significant proportion of the public and Tesla’s customer base.
Recently, rumors surfaced that Elon Musk’s board discussed potentially replacing him to pressure him into dedicating more time to Tesla and leveraging his commitment. Despite the initial report’s claims that the board was involved in planning the CEO succession, it quickly disputed the allegations, refuting any notion of impropriety.
Electrek’s Take
Paying Denholm a staggering half-billion dollars to merely stand idly by, as Musk’s quip suggests, raises eyebrows about the true value of his inactivity. With that assignment complete, she expected to do nothing more than maintain a watchful eye over Musk’s newfound influence.
Musk is in cost. She serves as a mere ceremonial figure, forced to endorse every transaction with her signature.
As Tesla’s third-largest individual shareholder, following Elon Musk and Leo KoGuan, the latter revealed last year that he was unable to have his concerns regarding Musk addressed by the board, dubbing Tesla “a family business masquerading as a publicly traded company.”
