Ford CEO Jim Farley earned nearly $25M last year

Farley's pay remains 253 times the median Ford employee salary of $98,273. (2 min. read)

Ford $F ( ▼ 1.82% ) CEO Jim Farley’s compensation fell 6.1% in 2024 to $24.9 million after the automaker failed to meet key performance targets.

By the numbers:

  • Farley's base salary remained at $1.7 million, while the valuation of stock awards reached $20.6 million, though most haven’t vested yet.

  • The company also cut his annual bonus by 33% to $1.6 million.

  • Other compensation, including travel perks, declined 56% year-over-year.

Worth noting: Farley's pay remains 253x the median Ford employee salary of $98,273, down from 312x in 2023 and the lowest ratio in three years.

Why it happened: Ford’s quality problems have become a growing liability.

  • In 2024, the company spent $5.83 billion on warranty claims, which was up 22% from the previous year.

  • Ford also ranked second in total recalls behind Stellantis $STLA ( ▼ 4.06% ) —adding to concerns about the company's ongoing manufacturing defects.

Another shortfall: Despite selling a record 97,865 EVs, Ford missed its annual goal, reaching only 88% of its EV sales target.

  • But beyond sales, Ford’s EV division, Model e, remains a major financial drain.

  • The unit lost $5.1 billion in 2024, up from $4.7 billion in 2023, and Ford expects losses to grow to $5.5 billion in 2025.

  • On top of that—the supply/demand ratio has led the automaker to cut EV production, cancel planned models, and pivot toward more affordable EVs and hybrids.

Why it matters: Last year, Ford revised its bonus structure, tying executive pay more directly to annual results rather than long-term goals to enforce accountability. Farley himself has been pushing for a stronger link between pay and performance.

A bigger shift: Farley wasn’t the only Ford executive to see a pay cut. The company allocated nearly $71 million in executive pay to its top five leaders, a decrease from $80 million the previous year. $56 million of that compensation is tied to stock awards, meaning much of their pay depends on Ford’s future execution.

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