Jim Farley Got His Biggest Ford Paycheck Ever For Hitting Quality Targets

Ford’s 2026 proxy filing has pulled back the curtain on executive pay, and one of the headline takeaways is that CEO Jim Farley walked away with a sizable raise last year, even as the automaker posted an $8.2 billion net loss and continued wrestling with its EV strategy.

His total compensation reached $27.5 million in 2025, an 11 percent increase over the $24.9 million he earned in 2024. It also marks his largest payday since stepping into the role in 2020.

Compensation Breakdown Details

While Farley’s base salary held steady at $1.7 million, his cash bonus surged 2.5 times to $5.75 million. That jump came after Ford exceeded its initial quality targets, which sits a little awkwardly alongside its record-setting recall streak, alongside strong growth in integrated services revenue, hitting 200% of its goal. The bonus also factored in global EV volume reaching 121 percent of plan, excluding China, even as overall earnings targets landed at just 64 percent.

More: Ford Has Already Recalled Nearly Three Times As Many Cars As All Other Brands Combined

The rest of the package includes roughly $18.9 million in stock awards and $1.2 million categorized as “all other compensation.” That latter figure covers $737,504 for personal use of corporate aircraft and $384,896 for personal security over the year. Interestingly, stock-based compensation actually fell by nearly $2 million compared to the previous year.

Executive Pay Gap Trends

The filing also draws attention to the widening pay gap inside the company. Farley now earns 295 times more than the median Ford employee. That median compensation climbed to $93,397 in 2025, up from $84,829 in 2024, though still short of the $98,273 reported in 2023. The ratio has therefore stretched from 253-to-1 a year earlier, highlighting a growing divide between executive and worker pay.

More: Jim Farley Decided Ford’s Entire Future In A Market That’s 8% The Size Of America’s

The rest of the executive pay sheet follows a similar pattern. Executive Chair Bill Ford took home $20.3 million, while CFO Sherry House earned $8.4 million. Ford Pro head Alicia Boler Davis landed just under $19 million after joining in 2025. The filing also lists Vice Chair John Lawler at $11.7 million and Chief EV, Digital and Design Officer Doug Field at $15.2 million.

Investors, for their part, were not impressed by the optics. Ford shares slipped nearly 2.5 percent during Friday trading, as Wall Street sized up rising executive pay against the company’s mounting financial strain.