DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co’s chief executive officer, Mary Barra, received a compensation package worth $23.7 million in 2020, 9.4% more than the previous year, according to the U.S. automaker’s proxy statement released on Friday.
Barra’s pay package included a salary of $2.0 million, stock awards worth $13.1 million, options worth $3.75 million and a performance award worth $3.78 million.
Her base salary dropped from $2.1 million in 2019, while stock awards and options were up 7% and performance awards up 38%.
GM said Barra’s compensation was about 201 times the median pay for its employees.
GM’s share price rose more than 13% in 2020, ending the year at $41.84. On Thursday, its shares were $56.84 in midday trade, and its market cap was more than $81 billion.
GM faced a number of challenges last year, including short-term plant closings triggered by the spread of COVID-19.
The company suspended its dividend a year ago, and has not indicated if or when it will be reinstated.
A year ago, Barra announced that GM would boost its spending on electric and automated vehicles to more than $27 billion through 2025, with plans to launch 30 EVs globally — including more than 20 in North America — in that time frame. She also reiterated GM’s target of selling more than 1 million EVs a year by 2025.
The company’s board of directors is recommending a vote against two shareholder proposals, including one that would peg executive compensation in part to greenhouse gas emissions targets.
(This story corrects Barra’s pay to $23.7 million instead of $22.6 million in headline and paragraph 1; corrects amount of increase to 9.4% instead of 4.6%, paragraph 1; corrects salary to $2.0 million instead of $2.1 million, paragraph 2; corrects stock awards to $13.1 million instead of $12.99 million, paragraph 2; corrects 2019 base salary to $2.1 million instead of “remained unchanged,” paragraph 3; corrects GM’s market cap to more than $81 billion instead of more $81 million, paragraph 5)
(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
