Ford CEO James D. Farley Jr. had $27,519,558 in reported total compensation for fiscal 2025. General Motors CEO Mary T. Barra had $29,895,868. Those figures come from the companies’ 2026 proxy statements and are Summary Compensation Table (SCT) totals—not simply salaries and not necessarily cash received during the year.
Barra’s proxy-reported total was about $2.38 million higher than Farley’s on this like-for-like measure. The largest component for both executives was stock awards valued when granted. Understanding that valuation, and keeping it separate from the SEC’s Compensation Actually Paid (CAP) calculation, is essential to answering what either CEO actually made.
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Ford and GM CEO pay at a glance
| Company and CEO | Salary | Stock awards | Non-equity incentive compensation | All other compensation | Reported SCT total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ford — James D. Farley Jr. | $1,700,000 | $18,868,309 | $5,746,000 | $1,205,249 | $27,519,558 |
| General Motors — Mary T. Barra | $2,100,000 | $21,623,970 | $4,956,000 | $1,215,898 | $29,895,868 |
Every amount in the table is the fiscal 2025 entry in the company’s 2026 proxy statement. “Reported SCT total” is the appropriate label because it is the total in the SEC-format Summary Compensation Table. It is not accurate to call the entire amount salary, a cash bonus, or money deposited into the executive’s account during 2025.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →On the same reporting basis, GM’s Barra total exceeded Ford’s Farley total by $2,376,310. The comparison is meaningful because it uses the same fiscal year and the same disclosure measure. A comparison that mixes one company’s SCT total with the other company’s CAP figure would not be like-for-like.
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What counts as CEO compensation in a proxy statement?
The SCT total combines several categories that together describe reportable executive compensation for the year:
- Salary: fixed cash pay under the executive’s employment arrangement.
- Bonus: a separately reported discretionary or guaranteed bonus, when one exists.
- Stock awards: the grant-date accounting value of shares or share-based units awarded during the year.
- Option awards: grant-date value of stock options, if any were granted.
- Non-equity incentive plan compensation: cash earned under performance plans, usually tied to annual financial or operational goals.
- Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings: actuarial or deferred-account changes required in the table when applicable.
- All other compensation: reportable benefits and perquisites, such as retirement contributions, personal use of company aircraft or vehicles, security, insurance, or other listed items, depending on the company’s disclosures.
Not every executive has an amount in every category. A zero or blank for one line does not mean the executive had no compensation; it means that category did not add a reported amount for that year.
How Ford’s 2025 CEO total was assembled
Farley’s fixed salary
Farley’s 2025 salary was $1.7 million. Salary is the most straightforward number in the table, but it represented only a small share of his $27.52 million SCT total.
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Ford reported $18,868,309 in stock awards for Farley. Ford states that stock and option award amounts in its SCT use grant-date fair value calculated under FASB ASC Topic 718. No options were granted to Farley in 2025. The $18.87 million therefore reflects the accounting value assigned when the stock awards were granted, not a cash payment and not a guarantee of what the shares will be worth when they vest or are sold.
Farley’s performance-based cash
Ford reported $5,746,000 in non-equity incentive compensation. This is performance-plan cash compensation, distinct from both base salary and stock awards.
Farley’s other reported items
Ford listed $1,205,249 as all other compensation. The 2025 row reported no bonus, no option awards, and no change in pension value or nonqualified deferred-compensation earnings. Adding the reported categories produces the SCT total of $27,519,558, subject to minor rounding in company tables.
How GM’s 2025 CEO total was assembled
Barra’s fixed salary
Barra’s 2025 salary was $2.1 million, $400,000 more than Farley’s salary. That difference is much smaller than the difference in their overall reported totals because equity and incentive amounts make up most of each package.
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Barra’s equity award
GM reported $21,623,970 in stock awards. GM says this amount represents grant-date fair values for performance stock units (PSUs) and restricted stock units (RSUs), calculated under FASB ASC Topic 718. No option awards were reported for Barra in 2025. PSUs can ultimately vest at levels that differ from the grant-date accounting estimate because performance conditions and share prices change.
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Barra’s performance-based cash
GM reported $4,956,000 in non-equity incentive compensation. This was $790,000 less than Farley’s corresponding amount, even though Barra’s salary and stock-award values were higher.
Barra’s other reported items
GM listed $1,215,898 in all other compensation. The displayed row reported no option awards and no pension or nonqualified deferred-compensation change. The resulting SCT total was $29,895,868.
Why stock awards dominate both totals
Stock awards were the largest disclosed component for both CEOs: about $18.87 million for Farley and $21.62 million for Barra. Boards use equity to connect a large portion of executive compensation to the company’s future stock performance and, for PSUs, to operating or market targets. The accounting rules require a value at the grant date so the award can be recorded consistently in the proxy table.
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Grant-date fair value is a measurement date, not a settlement date. An award may later be worth more, worth less, vest only in part, or fail to vest. Conversely, an executive may receive shares in a later year after the award has accumulated additional value. That timing is why a single year’s SCT stock-award number should not be described as cash received in that year.
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SCT total versus Compensation Actually Paid
The SEC’s Pay Versus Performance disclosure includes a separate measure called Compensation Actually Paid (CAP). CAP starts with SCT amounts, removes grant-date equity values and certain pension changes, then incorporates specified year-end or vest-date equity revaluations and pension service cost where applicable. It is designed for a performance comparison, not as a bank-account statement.
Ford reported Farley’s 2025 CAP as $49,214,346, while his SCT total was $27,519,558. The larger CAP number reflects the prescribed revaluation methodology. It does not mean Farley received $49.2 million in cash. Ford’s 2026 proxy statement expressly cautions: “The values do not reflect the actual amount of compensation earned by or paid to our Named Executives during the applicable year.” That warning applies to the CAP values.
For a straightforward answer to how much each CEO was reported to make, use the SCT totals in the first table. If discussing CAP, label it CAP, identify the company and year, and do not substitute it for the SCT total or compare it with another company’s SCT figure.
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| Comparison point | Ford — Farley | GM — Barra | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | $1.70 million | $2.10 million | GM’s fixed salary was higher by $400,000. |
| Stock awards | $18.87 million | $21.62 million | Equity was the largest component for both executives. |
| Non-equity incentive compensation | $5.75 million | $4.96 million | Ford’s reported performance-plan cash was higher by $790,000. |
| All other compensation | $1.21 million | $1.22 million | The reported amounts were close; this category is not salary. |
| SCT total | $27.52 million | $29.90 million | GM’s reported total was approximately $2.38 million higher. |
The table does not establish which CEO performed better. Compensation outcomes depend on each board’s plan design, target-setting, award timing, company results, and share-price assumptions. The available figures support a pay comparison, not a performance verdict.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read the proxy statement yourself
- Find the correct filing year. The 2026 DEF 14A proxy statements report fiscal 2025 compensation for both companies.
- Locate the Summary Compensation Table. Confirm that the executive is the CEO and that the column is for 2025.
- Use the Total row. Record the SCT total rather than treating salary as the full package.
- Inspect the component columns. Separate salary, stock, non-equity incentives, options, pension or deferred compensation, and all other compensation.
- Read the footnotes. Footnotes explain vesting conditions, PSU assumptions, perquisites, retirement contributions, and valuation methods.
- Check the Pay Versus Performance table separately. If you see CAP, keep it distinct from SCT and read the company’s definition and cautionary language.
- Keep the fiscal year constant. Do not compare a 2025 figure for one company with a 2024 or 2026 figure for the other.
What the figures do—and do not—tell you
They do show the structure of reported pay
The disclosures show how much of each package was salary, performance-based cash, equity, and other reportable compensation. They also show that the two boards used different mixes: Farley had a higher reported non-equity incentive amount, while Barra had higher salary and stock-award values.
They do not show cash in the bank
The SCT total includes noncash grant-date valuations and accounting entries. It cannot by itself tell you how much cash an executive received, how many shares ultimately vested, or what taxes were withheld.
They do not provide a complete pay-for-performance judgment
CAP is intended to place compensation beside performance measures under a prescribed SEC calculation. Even CAP is not a statement of actual cash earned or paid, and a one-year comparison cannot explain the full relationship between a board’s goals and long-term results.
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Ford reported median employee annual total compensation of $93,397 for 2025. Ford says its calculation included the bonus for 2025 performance that was paid in 2026. That is Ford’s own median-employee measure, with its stated methodology; it should not be treated as GM’s median or used to create a cross-company CEO-to-worker ratio. The material available for GM does not establish a corresponding 2025 median figure.
Common mistakes when comparing executive pay
- Calling the total a salary: salary was $1.7 million for Farley and $2.1 million for Barra; the totals were much larger because they included equity and incentives.
- Calling stock awards cash: the reported values were grant-date fair values under ASC 718.
- Calling CAP a paycheck: Ford’s $49.21 million CAP figure is a separate adjusted disclosure and not cash compensation received.
- Mixing years: the figures here are fiscal 2025 amounts reported in 2026 proxies.
- Comparing unlike measures: use SCT-to-SCT or CAP-to-CAP, not one of each.
- Reading “all other” as a bonus: it is a catch-all category for reported benefits and perquisites, not a synonym for incentive pay.
- Inferring performance from a larger total: a higher reported amount alone does not prove better or worse CEO performance.
Bottom line for Ford and GM readers
For fiscal 2025, Ford reported $27.52 million in SCT compensation for James D. Farley Jr., while GM reported $29.90 million for Mary T. Barra. Barra’s total was higher by about $2.38 million. In both packages, stock awards—not salary—made up the largest component, and those awards were valued at grant date. Keep those SCT totals separate from CAP, including Ford’s $49.21 million CAP figure, because neither measure should be presented as cash actually received without additional evidence.
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