GM CEO Barra was top-paid Detroit auto executive in 2018

General Motors Co. Chairman and CEO Mary Barra was paid $21.87 million in total compensation in 2018 to make her the highest-paid Detroit Three executive.

Barra's 2018 compensation is a slight decrease from the $21.96 million the company paid her in 2017. Still, the GM chief executive's pay outpaces Ford CEO Jim Hackett, who completed his first full year on the job in 2018, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV CEO Michael Manley, who took the top job on July 21.

Hackett was paid $17.75 million in 2018 and Manley was paid 600,442 euros ($708,498). FCA paid its late CEO Sergio Marchionne 6.6 million euros ($7.8 million).

Barra's pay in 2018 included a $2.1 million base salary, the same she was paid in 2017, and $14.5 million in stock awards, according to GM's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission released Thursday. Ford and FCA made those filings earlier this year.

Barra, 57, is the auto industry's first female CEO. She also stands to lead a majority-female board of directors.

GM named its 11 nominees — six of which are women — for the board of directors in the filing, downsizing the board from 13 members. Jim Mulva, former CEO of Conoco Philips, and Mike Mullen, former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, are retiring after hitting the board's age limit.

GM will hold its annual shareholders meeting at 8 a.m. June 4 via webcast.

GM made $8.1 billion on $147 billion in revenue in 2018 as the company spent about $1.3 billion on restructuring moves. The Detroit automaker is executing a majority of its larger restructuring plan this year, which includes stopping production at five North American plants and cutting 15 percent of its salaried workforce.

GM spent $290,589 on other benefits for Barra, including $140,599 for travel on a chartered aircraft and a company-owned plane, and $89,884 on security.

Barra also received a $4.45 million incentive-based bonus for 2018. That's down from nearly $5 million in 2017 due to a decrease in automotive free cash flow, one of the factors in calculating the incentive bonus.

The median employee total compensation at GM in 2018 was $77,849, making Barra's pay ratio 281 to 1.

Pay for other GM executives in 2018 includes:

• Dhivya Suryadevara, executive vice president and chief financial officer: $5.5 million in total compensation. Suryadevara was appointed CFO in September, replacing Chuck Stevens. Her base salary in 2018 was $668,100. The new CFO also received a $1.19 million incentive-based bonus. 
• Dan Ammann, president: $8.97 million in total compensation, down from $9.26 million in 2017. Ammann's base salary remained flat at $1.45 million. He also received a $1.92 million incentive-based bonus, down from $2.1 million in 2017. 
• Mark Reuss, executive vice president of global product group and Cadillac: $7.35 million in total compensation, down from $7.73 million in 2017. Reuss' base salary stayed flat at $1.2 million. He also got a $1.59 million incentive-based bonus, down from $1.77 million in 2017.
• Alan Batey, executive vice president and president of North America: $5.34 million in total compensation, down from $5.97 million in 2017. Batey's base salary remained flat at $1.02 million. He also got a $1.23 million incentive-based bonus, down from $1.45 million in 2017.
• Chuck Stevens, advisor and former executive vice president and chief financial officer: $6.94 million in total compensation, down from $7.1 million in 2017. Stevens' base salary remained flat at $1.1 million. He also received a $1.32 million incentive-based bonus, down from $1.62 million in 2017.

Suryadevara, Ammann, Reuss, Batey and Stevens were all also given stock awards, which was included in their 2018 total compensation. Many of the top GM executives also moved to new roles in 2019. Ammann is now CEO of GM Cruise LLC and Reuss moved into the role of GM President. Batey announced his retirement in February. His exit was effective April 1.

Bloomberg contributed to this report.

nnaughton@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @NoraNaughton