Factbox: Battles over CEO pay across the globe
04/08/2025 13:26
Changes dateline, rewrites paragraphs 1 to 3, adds Tesla share award to Musk and Salesforce CEO compensation details Aug 4 (Reuters) - Tesla TSLA.O on Monday granted CEO Elon Musk 96 million new shares valued at about $29 billion, reinforcing his leadership as he contends with a court ruling that voided his original, shareholder-disputed compensation package. In 2024, a Delaware judge struck down Musk's 2018 compensation plan - worth more than $50 billion - for a second time, citing a flawed board approval process that failed to protect shareholder interests. Musk appealed in March, arguing the judge made multiple legal errors. Earlier this year, the automaker said its board formed a special committee to review certain pay matters involving Musk, without providing details. Below are other CEO pay packages that have faced a tough fight:
| Year | Company | Description |
| 2025 | Tesla TSLA.O | Tesla approved share award worth $29 billion to CEO Elon Musk to keep the billionaire at the top role amid his fight with a court ruling that voided his original pay deal. |
| 2025 | Salesforce CRM.N | As of April 2025, CEO Marc Benioff's total compensation was $55.1 million, up from $39.6 million last year, according to a securities filing. In July last year, majority of Salesforce shareholders voted against a compensation plan for Benioff and other executives. |
| 2024 | AstraZeneca AZN.L | Over a third of AstraZeneca's investors opposed its 2024 pay policy, which will boost CEO Pascal Soriot's remuneration to as much as 18.9 million pounds. It won the backing, however, of the required majority of votes. |
| 2024 | 3M MMM.N | In May, 3M shareholders voted down the annual compensation packages of certain executives, including that of former CEO Mike Roman. |
| 2024 | BlackRock BLK.N | BlackRock's executive pay, including that of CEO Larry Fink, won narrow support from shareholders, with about 42% of votes cast opposing it. |
| 2024 | Boohoo BOOH.L | UK-based Boohoo Group's bosses waived their annual bonuses in May and scrapped plans to raise executive awards after backlash from shareholders. |
| 2023 | BP BP.L | Former CEO Bernard Looney had more than $40 million cut in his compensation after the British oil giant concluded he misled the board over personal relationships with colleagues. |
| 2023 | Telecom Italia TLIT.MI | Shareholders rejected Telecom Italia's pay policy after top investor Vivendi criticized criteria to award bonus payments to CEO Pietro Labriola. |
| 2022 | Intel INTC.O | Intel shareholders rejected compensation packages for top executives, including a payout of as much as $178.6 million to then CEO Pat Gelsinger. |
| 2021 | Rio Tinto RIO.L, RIO.AX | Rio Tinto shareholders rejected the miner's executive pay packages, in a backlash over its destruction of ancient rock shelters in Western Australia the previous year. |
| 2021 | McDonald's MCD.N | Former CEO Steve Easterbrook agreed to return compensation worth $105 million in equity awards and cash to settle a lawsuit over alleged lies about affairs. |
| 2021 | GE GE.N | GE shareholders rejected executives' compensation packages, including a payout of as much as $230 million to CEO Larry Culp. |
| 2021 | Morrisons | Investors in the British supermarket group overwhelmingly rejected its pay report in 2021. |
| 2021 | Halliburton HAL.N | More than half of Halliburton's shareholders voted against its proposed executive compensation plan. |
| 2021 | UniCredit CRDI.MI | The Italian bank's boss, Andrea Orcel, narrowly avoided a shareholder revolt against his pay package, securing only 54% of votes at a general meeting after top investor BlackRock voted against it. |
| 2019 | CBS | CBS Corp fired Leslie Moonves for cause and denied a $120 million severance package after the former chief executive was accused of sexual harassment and assault that allegedly took place before and after he joined the company. |
| 2017 | Uber UBER.N | Travis Kalanick, Uber's co-founder and CEO, was forced to resign after a series of scandals plagued the company, including allegations of sexual harassment and a toxic workplace culture. Shareholders later sued the board, alleging it failed to properly oversee Kalanick and allowed the scandals to occur. |
| 2017 | Equifax EFX.N | After a massive data breach exposed millions of customers' personal information, Equifax's CEO received significant criticism for his handling of the crisis and a hefty bonus. Shareholders filed suit alleging the board failed to properly oversee the CEO. |
| 2017 | BP BP.L | BP cut CEO Bob Dudley's 2016 pay package by 40% after a wave of shareholder revolts. |
| 2016 | ViacomVIACOM.UL | A shareholder lawsuit claimed that Viacom and CBS Corp's executive chairman, Sumner Redstone, was improperly paid millions though "he was physically and mentally incapacitated." |
| 2011 | Occidental Petroleum OXY.N | Occidental Petroleum CEO Ray Irani was criticized for excessive pay after his compensation grew 40% in 2009 to $31.4 million. Shareholders pushed for board seats. |
| 2002 | Worldcom | After an accounting scandal that led to financial fraud, shareholders sued the company over excessive compensation awarded to executives, including the CEO. |