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Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer, Vaibhav Taneja, is making headlines not just for his corporate ascent but for his extraordinary compensation in 2024 — a staggering $139 million. That figure eclipses what tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet paid their CEOs Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai, who received $79.1 million and $10.73 million, respectively.

However, it should be noted that Taneja’s eye-popping earnings aren’t simply his paycheck. While his base salary from Tesla stood at $400,000, most of the reported amount came from equity-based compensation. 

Tesla shares were trading around $250 when Taneja exercised his equity benefits, significantly boosting the overall value of his compensation package.

From Delhi University To Tesla Boardroom

Taneja’s journey to Tesla’s upper echelons began long before he joined Elon Musk’s electric vehicle empire in 2017. A commerce graduate from Delhi University and a qualified chartered accountant, he cut his teeth at PwC, where he spent 17 years across India and the US. He joined SolarCity in 2016, which Tesla later acquired, and transitioned into Tesla’s finance team.

By 2019, he was Tesla’s Chief Accounting Officer and in 2023, he took over as CFO after Zach Kirkhorn’s departure. Taneja also holds a directorship in Tesla India Motors and Energy Pvt. Ltd., underscoring his involvement in Tesla’s expansion plans for India.

Breaking Barriers Beyond Engineering

Taneja’s rapid ascent also reflects a shift in how Indian-origin professionals are rising to leadership positions in global firms — often outside the traditionally dominant engineering route. Unlike Sundar Pichai or Satya Nadella, who have deep engineering backgrounds, Taneja’s rise through finance signals a broadening horizon for Indian talent in global corporate leadership.

Taneja follows in the footsteps of another Indian-origin CFO at Tesla, Deepak Ahuja, who served from 2017 to 2019 before moving to Zipline. Notably, Apple’s new CFO Kevan Parekh is also of Indian descent, showing that the influence of Indian-origin professionals is only growing — and not just in tech, but across the corporate spectrum.