It has been reported that Tesla (TSLA) board members have received over $3 billion in stock awards, significantly surpassing their industry peers in compensation. According to data from corporate governance research firm Equilar, between 2018 and 2020, Tesla directors averaged approximately $12 million annually in combined cash and stock compensation.

During the tech-driven bull market, Tesla's board compensation was roughly eight times higher than Alphabet (GOOGL.US), the parent company of Google, and also exceeded that of NVIDIA (NVDA.US), Meta (META.US), Apple (AAPL.US), Microsoft (MSFT.US), and Amazon (AMZN.US).

Notably, the $3 billion-plus compensation was awarded to only five of Tesla's eight current non-executive directors. The remaining three—Jeffrey Straubel, Jack Haughn, and Joe Gebbia—joined after the board paused new equity grants.

Although no new awards have been granted since a 2020 shareholder lawsuit settlement, the value of these stock awards has surged dramatically due to Tesla's soaring share price.