Internal Tesla salary database shows Elon Musk’s strategy: Lower salaries, bigger stock grants [Video]

Tesla attracts millions of job seekers annually. The few who receive offers typically face a calculated gamble: Accept lower base pay up front for the chance of a potentially lucrative future payout.

Business Insider secured access to an internal Tesla pay database, covering nearly 100,000 employees as of December 2021. That data, along with public filings and interviews with people who have worked for the automaker, reveal the company’s pay strategy. Tesla offers lower base salaries than its tech and automotive peers but offers substantial stock grants.

Even Tesla’s top earners must bet on the company. This high-risk, high-reward system is coupled with a selective hiring process that has in the past included Elon Musk’s sign-off for every hire.

Using Tesla’s internal salary database, BI looked at median base pay for the roughly …