May 7, 2026
U.S. automakers are lagging far behind China in electric vehicle technology, efficiency and cost, scrapping prototypes left (1) and right (2) as a result.
Against the backdrop, one homegrown EV CEO still managed to earn more than $400 million on paper last year.
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RJ Scaringe, the founder and CEO of Rivian, earned more than any other CEO in the sector in 2025. And not by a slim margin, either. He grossed $403 million, about 13 times more than the second-highest paid executive on the list.
This came in a year when his business celebrated an annual gross profit of $144 million (3) for the first time. That set the stage to increase deliveries by as much as 59% in 2026 (4) with the release of Rivian's new R2 model.
Meanwhile, Ford logged one of its worst years on record, with an $8.2 billion net loss (5), largely due to its investment in EV initiatives that faced "lower-than-expected demand, high costs and regulatory changes." CEO Jim Farley still took home $27.5 million.
But Scaringe's $403 million payday is not exactly what it seems.
How Rivian manages to float when others are sinking
So far in 2026, Rivian has outperformed both revenue (6) and earnings per share (EPS) predictions (7), with year-over-year gains (8) in both.
Founded in 2009 to build "category-defining" electric vehicles for adventure, the company manufactures electric trucks, SUVs and vans within the US. It is often cited as an American success story (9), with Amazon and Volkswagen among its key shareholders following a $14 billion IPO in 2021.
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Amazon has tapped Rivian for its new fleet of 100,000 delivery vans (10), while Rivian and Volkswagen launched a joint auto tech venture (11) in 2024. Additionally, the EV maker signed a deal (12) to supply Uber with $1.25 billion in robotaxis.
Unlike projects and even entire companies (13) falling by the wayside in a temperamental EV market, Rivian has forged key partnerships and kept a strong focus on technology, helping to offset losses on the automotive side and, perhaps against the odds, survive.
One draw is the startup's mission to help owners maintain their cars for longer (14) through "vertically integrated software and services" that cover the full lifespan of a vehicle. That approach detours from the planned obsolescence common in many consumer goods (15), including some EVs (16).
While its pricing is far from competitive, Rivian has made progress with its upcoming R2, cutting production costs by half (17). That should make it the company's most affordable vehicle yet. Even so, the R2's price is expected to start at $57,990, more than $10,000 above its originally promised $45,00 price point (12).
Experts continue to see long-term growth potential (12) for Rivian in what remains a volatile sector, citing its investments in AI and autonomous driving (18), as well as the potential for revenue beyond traditional car sales (12).
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The real breakdown of Scaringe's 2025 pay
Despite some recent wins, Scaringe's headline $403 million pay was mostly in Rivian stock options and awards.
His base salary was $1.1 million, plus a $1 million bonus. The remainder came from $26.6 million in shares, whose value has dropped 86% since the company's IPO (19), and $373 million in options tied to achievement of significant stock price and financial improvements.
If analysts are correct in their bullish forecasts for Rivian's future, those options could eventually be worth more than a few hundred million.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Electrek (1); Wards Auto (2); CNBC (3),(4); Yahoo Finance (5),(12); Rivian (6); Investing.com (7); Earnings Hub (8); Stanford Research Park (9); About Amazon (10); Rivian VW Tech (11); Australian Financial Review (13); The Drive (14); The Atlantic (15); Ennovi (16); InsideEVs (17); The Globe and Mail (18); Financial Times (19)
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Becky Robertson is a senior staff reporter with Moneywise and a lifelong writer. Along with years in the journalism industry at outlets such as blogTO and Quill & Quire, she's participated in writing residencies at the Banff Centre and Writing Workshops Paris. With 33 countries visited, she finds travel to be one of her greatest inspirations.
