What is Mary Barra's Net Worth and Salary?
Mary Barra is an American businesswoman who has a net worth of $90 million. Mary Barry serves as the chair and CEO of General Motors. She succeeded Daniel Akerson in 2014 to become the first female CEO of a "Big Three" automaker. Previously, Barra served as GM's executive vice president of global product development, purchasing, and supply chain.
Compensation and Stock Holdings
In her first decade as CEO of GM, Mary earned $200 million in total compensation (salary, bonuses, benefits and equity grants). Her base salary is $2 million but in a typical year she earns $20-30 million. For example, in 2020, she received a compensation package worth $23.7 million, including a salary of $2 million, stock awards worth $13.1 million, options worth $3.75 million, and a performance award worth $3.78 million. In 2021 her total compensation was $29,136,780, which included a $2.1 million salary, over $7.64 million in bonus pay, about $3.94 million in stock options, and almost $14.6 million in stock In 2022, she made $28,979,570 in total compensation, with a salary of $2,100,000, a bonus of $6,258,000, stock options of $4,875,010, stock awards of $14,625,000, and other types of compensation amounting to $1,121,560.
Mary Barra owns at least 1,127,563 units of General Motors (GM) stock. The total number of GM shares outstanding as of September 30, 2023, was approximately 1.378 billion. Based on these numbers, Mary Barra's ownership represents approximately 0.082% of GM's total outstanding shares.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Early Life and Education
Mary Barra was born as Mary Makela on Christmas Eve, 1961 in Royal Oak, Michigan. Her parents are Eva and Ray, and she is of Finnish descent. For her higher education, Barra went to the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University), graduating in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. She went on to attend the Stanford Graduate School of Business on a GM fellowship, and earned her Master of Business Administration degree in 1990.
General Motors
Barra first worked for General Motors in 1980 as a co-op student. Her job involved checking fender panels and examining hoods. After that, Barra held an array of both engineering and administrative positions, including managing the Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant. In early 2008, having been at the company for many decades, Barra was named vice president of GM's global manufacturing engineering division. She was promoted to vice president of global human resources in 2009, and in 2011 became executive vice president of global product development. In 2013, Barra's role was expanded to include global purchasing and supply chain.
In early 2014, Barra succeeded Daniel Akerson as the new CEO of GM. This made her the first-ever female CEO of a "Big Three" automaker. During Barra's first year in the position, GM came under scrutiny for its numerous safety recalls and deaths attributed to faulty ignition switches. Moreover, Barra and the company were accused of having paid for awards to help deflect from the problem and boost GM's image. The recalls ultimately led to the creation of new policies to encourage employees to report any problems. Since then, Barra has been known for her efforts to move GM into driverless and electric-powered vehicles. The company made many acquisitions, including the driverless technology startup Strobe.
Getty
Board and Council Positions
Beyond her work at GM, Barra sits on a number of boards and councils. She serves on the boards of directors of the Detroit Economic Club and Detroit Country Day School; the boards of trustees of Stanford University, the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council, and Duke University; and the board of Disney. In 2022, Barra was appointed to the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Honors and Awards
Barra has been widely recognized for her work in the business world. She has been ranked as Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Woman multiple times, and in 2018 was ranked fourth on Forbes' Most Powerful Women list. Also in 2018, Barra was awarded the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute's Legend in Leadership Award. Later, in 2021, she was included in the Time 100 and the inaugural Forbes 50 Over 50 list. A couple years after that, Barra received the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication at the Arthur W. Page Center Awards. Among her other honors, she has received honorary degrees from the University of Michigan and Duke University.
Personal Life
Barra is married to consultant Tony, whom she first met when they were students at the General Motors Institute. The couple has two children and resides in Northville Township, a western suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Barra also owns an apartment in Downtown Detroit.
