Vaibhav Taneja’s Salary Tops Nadella, Pichai Amid Tesla Challenges

Vaibhav Taneja, a high-ranking Indian-origin executive at Tesla, has become the subject of global discussion after reports revealed that his annual compensation surpassed that of leading tech CEOs such as Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai. According to The Telegraph, Vaibhav Taneja, who assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Tesla in 2023, received a total remuneration of $139 million (over ₹1,150 crore) for the year 2024.

Despite his base salary being $400,000, the substantial rise in his overall compensation was attributed to stock options and equity awards granted after his promotion to CFO. The report noted that this is the highest compensation awarded to a finance chief in recent years.

Citing filings from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the report further stated that Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella earned $79.106 million in 2024, while Alphabet's 2025 proxy statement indicated that Sundar Pichai received $10.73 million. In comparison, Vaibhav Taneja's remuneration is several times higher than both.

The extraordinary salary package comes at a time when Tesla is experiencing declining sales and increasing scrutiny of CEO Elon Musk’s actions. It has been reported that 2024 witnessed the steepest drop in Tesla's annual sales since 2012. Against this backdrop, many have expressed surprise over the scale of Taneja’s compensation. Meanwhile, Tesla’s founder Elon Musk reportedly does not draw any salary from the company, making Taneja’s remuneration even more noteworthy.

Vaibhav Taneja holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Delhi and is a trained Chartered Accountant. From July 1999 to March 2016, he worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in both India and the United States. In March 2016, he joined SolarCity Corporation, a U.S.-based solar panel developer, serving in various financial and accounting capacities. Tesla acquired SolarCity in 2016.

Taneja joined Tesla in 2017 as Corporate Controller and rapidly rose through the ranks to become Chief Accounting Officer. He served in that role from March 2019 to 2023 before being appointed CFO. He has held this position for the past two years. Additionally, Taneja has played a pivotal role in Tesla’s plans to enter the Indian market. In January 2021, he was also appointed Director of Tesla’s Indian subsidiary, Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited.