AFL-CIO Report: Musk's 2025 Pay of $158 Billion Exceeds Tesla's Full-Year Revenue
Elon Musk received $158 billion in compensation from Tesla in 2025, or 2,522,203 times the automaker's average employee pay, according to an AFL-CIO report. The sum exceeded Tesla's revenue of $94 billion for the year, which fell 3% year on year in its first-ever annual decline, and surpassed the company's cumulative profits since its founding. Including Musk, Tesla's average CEO-to-worker pay ratio rose to 5,387 to 1, compared with 312 to 1 excluding him and a typical 300 to 1 across large US companies.
In 2025, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk received compensation of $158 billion, equivalent to 2,522,203 times the pay of an average Tesla employee. Tesla's total revenue for the same year was $94 billion, down 3% year on year - the first annual revenue decline in the company's history. Musk's single-year compensation exceeded Tesla's cumulative profits since its founding.
The gap between chief executive pay and average worker wages at large US companies typically holds at about 300 to 1. In 2024, excluding Musk, the ratio stood at 285 to 1. With Musk included in 2025, the average pay ratio rose to 5,387 to 1; excluding him, it was 312 to 1.
Tesla has about 135,000 employees. On that basis, Musk's compensation far exceeds the total wages of its entire workforce, and his single-year income surpasses the profits the company has accumulated over many years.
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