Stellantis Pays Sergio Marchionne’s Estate More Than Current CEO
Even though he died in 2018, Marchionne’s estate is still paid about $29 million per year.
Stellantis released its first-ever annual financial report last week, in which the automotive behemoth detailed its health and outlook for the future. Nestled in the lines of compensation for its executives is one especially interesting tidbit: the estate of Sergio Marchionne, the former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles executive who died in 2018, is compensated more handsomely than Carlos Tavares, the company's current CEO.
According to the report that was first highlighted by Bloomberg, Tavares' income totaled roughly $21 million with the current exchange rates. Marchionne's estate, meanwhile, was paid nearly $29 million as per the late FCA exec's employment terms. Tavares, currently alive and running Stellantis, oversees 14 brands that previously made up Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French PSA Group. He has a base salary close to $2.2 million, with additional compensation coming from other performance-based incentives and benefits. Tavares is the highest-paid active member of Stellantis' Board of Directors.
Meanwhile, Marchionne took over FCA in 2009, a time when its properties were weak with some like Chrysler even facing bankruptcy. He was then able to turn it into an international powerhouse, sitting in a solid position when he passed suddenly four years ago. Because of that, he was well-paid during his tenure as CEO. His death predated the Stellantis merger by two years, but the terms of his employment dictated a healthy allowance for his estate, which makes his current compensation only $2,225,500 million or so less than the entire current active Board of Directors combined. Mike Manley, in comparison—another former FCA CEO who served as a Stellantis board member for a few weeks in January of 2021—earned $340,363 at the company last year.
While these are contractual terms that Stellantis is obligated to meet and not a statement of importance, it is ironic that Tavares, a man tasked with running the sixth-largest automaker on the planet, is still in some ways living in the long shadow of his legendarily tough predecessor.
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