Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is getting a salary bump and a performance-based stock options award that could be worth up to $4.6 billion, an SEC filing from Friday showed.
The company said in the filing that its board decided on Thursday to cancel Scaringe’s previous 2021 comp package for a new one in order to “retain and incentivize” Scaringe as he navigates the EV company through its “critical next phase.”
According to the filing, Rivian is increasing Scaringe’s salary from $1 million to $2 million, along with a grant piece that gives the CEO the option to buy up to 36.5 million shares of Rivian stock.
The previous 2021 pay package gave Scaringe the option to buy about 20.4 million shares.
Scaringe won’t have access to the stock all at once. Up to 22 million shares are split into 11 tranches that Scaringe can earn if the company meets certain stock-price hurdles. The remaining shares are contingent upon achieving profit and cash-flow targets as of December 31, 2032.
In total, Scaringe’s comp package could be worth up to $4.6 billion if Rivian’s stock reaches $140 per share.
Rivian’s stock was trading at $15.23 as of Friday. That means, to realize the maximum value of the pay package, the car company’s stock would have to increase by about 820% under Scaringe’s helm.
Marina Hoffmann, a Rivian spokesperson, said in a statement to Business Insider that “Rivian shareholders will see an approximate $32 billion of return before RJ sees $1 from this award.”
“If the entire award is earned by RJ, Rivian shareholders will see around $153 billion of value creation,” she wrote.
Rivian said in the filing that Scaringe’s previous pay package contained goals that were unlikely to be attained. The previous package gave Scaringe the option to purchase 20.4 million shares, but the first tranche of stocks could only be bought if Scaringe increased Rivian’s stock to $110.
The new package gives Scaringe the option to buy the first tranche of shares if Rivian is worth $40 per share.
“The stock price goals set at the time have become unrealistic in the current market environment. This is not uncommon for moonshot awards granted back in the Covid period,” Hoffmann wrote.
Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Rivian
Rivian is approaching a critical period in the company’s history with the coming launch of R2, a $45,000 SUV that aims to lower the price of entry for its premium lineup of EVs.
“For us to become a company of the scale we aspire to be, which is producing many millions of cars a year, we’re not going to get there with a $90,000 single flagship product,” Scaringe previously told Business Insider.
Related stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
On October 23, Rivian announced layoffs of more than 600 employees, about 4.5% of its workforce, citing the R2 launch next year and “the need to profitably scale our business.”
When asked about the timing of the new pay package approval, Hoffmann told Business Insider, “There is a performance nature of the grant as well as positive momentum on our business reflecting on Q3.”
Rivian reported a 78% year-over-year increase in revenue on Tuesday but posted a net loss of $1.1 billion for its third quarter.
Scaringe’s pay package also comes a day after his rival at Tesla got a blockbuster pay package approved by shareholders.
Tesla investors voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to give CEO Elon Musk a comp package worth $1 trillion if he realizes a company market cap of $8.5 trillion by 2035, among other milestones.
Hoffman said that Musk’s pay package did not have any impact on Rivian’s decision.
