CEO Total Pay
$8.8M
FY2023 Summary Compensation
NKLA
2026 data Public-data reference. official source
Nikola Corp
Open-data reference.
Transportation Equipment · DE · FY2023
CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratio
64:1
Moderate (Scale: 0–1000:1)
CEO Pay
$8.8M
Median Worker
$137,272
Compensation Pillar
CEO compensation breakdown — pay ratio 64× median worker (Dodd-Frank §953(b) disclosure)
Nikola Corp, a transportation equipment company, reported a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 64:1 in FY2023. CEO received total compensation of $8.8M, while the median employee earned $137,272 annually. This is below the Transportation Equipment industry median of 164:1 across 51 companies. Data sourced from SEC EDGAR proxy (DEF 14A) filings.
CEO Compensation Breakdown — FY2023
Detailed breakdown not available.
| Component | Amount (USD) |
|---|---|
| Base Salary | — |
| Bonus | — |
| Stock Awards | — |
| Option Awards | — |
| Non-Equity Incentive Plan | — |
| Pension Value Change | — |
| Other Compensation | — |
| Total Compensation | $8.8M |
Source: SEC EDGAR Form DEF 14A — CIK 1731289, FY2023 Summary Compensation Table.
Industry Comparison — Transportation Equipment
This Company's Ratio
64:1
Industry Median Ratio
164:1
Industry Median CEO Pay
$7.2M
This CEO's Pay
$8.8M
Companies in Industry
51
vs. Industry Median
Below
Understanding This Pay Ratio
Nikola Corp's CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 64:1 means that earned 64 times more than the company's median employee in FY2023.
The median employee at Nikola Corp earned $137,272 annually. At that wage, it would take a median employee approximately 64 years to earn what the CEO earned in a single year.
Pay Ratio
64:1
Near industry median
Disclosure Transparency
1.0/5
Limited pay component reporting
Pay-Versus-Performance Disclosure
Under 17 CFR §229.402(v) (the Pay-Versus-Performance rule effective for fiscal years ending after December 16, 2022), issuers must reconcile Compensation Actually Paid (CAP) to Total Shareholder Return (TSR) over a multi-year window. The chart below visualizes the relationship between Nikola Corp's reported CAP and TSR for FY2023.
Pay vs Performance — FY2023 (Dodd-Frank §953(a) PvP disclosure)
Pay Composition
Equity-based pay (stock + options) 0.0%
Performance-linked (incentive + bonus) 0.0%
Fixed compensation (base salary) 0.0%
ISS QualityScore and Glass-Lewis voting guidelines weight performance-linked share of pay. The CII (Council of Institutional Investors) recommends ≥50% of CEO pay be tied to multi-year performance metrics.
What This 2023 Filing Tells Us About Nikola Corp
According to the 2023 DEF 14A proxy statement filed with the SEC, Nikola Corp (NKLA, CIK 1731289) reported CEO 's total compensation at $8.8M. That figure is an aggregate of base salary (N/A). The median employee at the firm — the reference point mandated by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act — earned $137,272 over the same fiscal year, producing the headline CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 64:1 that this page tracks.
Context matters when reading this ratio. Nikola Corp operates in the Transportation Equipment sector and is headquartered in DE. Across the Transportation Equipment industry (SIC 37), 51 SEC-reporting companies disclosed pay ratios in FY2023, with a median of 164:1 and an average of 218:1. Median industry CEO pay was $7.2M, so Nikola Corp's $8.8M sits above that typical figure. That comparison is the fastest way to separate "the CEO is paid like peers" from "this company is an outlier."
Finally, a note on what these SEC numbers do and do not include. Total compensation reported under Item 402 of Regulation S-K reflects grant-date fair value for equity awards, not realized pay, so a CEO may eventually cash in more — or less — depending on stock performance and vesting. The pay ratio itself is calculated against a single median employee chosen under rules that allow statistical sampling, and companies may update methodology year to year. This proxy was filed on 2024-04-24; all figures on this page come directly from that public filing and can be verified against the DEF 14A on the SEC EDGAR system.
Key Data — FY2023
- CEO
- Total Compensation
- $8.8M
- Base Salary
- N/A
- Median Employee Pay
- $137,272
- Pay Ratio
- 64:1
- Filing Date
- 2024-04-24
Company Info
- Ticker
- NKLA
- CIK
- 1731289
- Industry
- Transportation Equipment
- SIC Code
- 3711
- State
- DE
Guides
Explore More
Data Source: This data is sourced from SEC EDGAR proxy statement (DEF 14A) filings. PlainCEOPay provides this publicly available information for informational purposes only. Not investment or financial advice. Verify with official SEC filings at sec.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CEO pay ratio at Nikola Corp? ▼
Nikola Corp's CEO-to-worker pay ratio is 64:1. CEO null earned $8.8M in FY2023, while the median employee earned $137,272.
How much does Nikola Corp's CEO earn? ▼
null, CEO of Nikola Corp (NKLA), earned total compensation of $8.8M in fiscal year 2023, according to SEC proxy filings.
How does Nikola Corp's pay ratio compare to its industry? ▼
Nikola Corp's pay ratio of 64:1 is below the Transportation Equipment industry median of 164:1. The industry has 51 companies reporting pay ratios.
Where does Nikola Corp's CEO pay data come from? ▼
All executive compensation data is sourced from SEC EDGAR DEF 14A proxy statement filings. Companies are required by the Dodd-Frank Act to disclose CEO-to-median-worker pay ratios annually. PlainCEOPay aggregates this publicly available data for easy comparison.
What is included in null's total compensation? ▼
Total compensation of $8.8M includes base salary, stock awards, option awards, non-equity incentive plan compensation, pension value changes, and other compensation as reported in the proxy filing summary compensation table.
How long would it take a median Nikola Corp employee to earn the CEO's pay? ▼
At a median salary of $137,272, it would take the typical Nikola Corp employee approximately 64 years to earn what CEO null earned in a single year ($8.8M in FY2023).
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau ACS — demographic + housing + income data. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — wage + employment by occupation. bls.gov/oes
- BEA Regional Economic Accounts — GDP + personal income by state/metro. bea.gov/data/regional
- U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns — establishment + employment by industry. census.gov/cbp
- IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) — tax-return aggregate data. irs.gov/statistics
- data.gov — U.S. federal open-data portal — discovery layer for additional federal sources. data.gov
Related
Data sourced from $official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCEOPay Editorial
