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- Stock options sold came from 2020 Performance Rewards that occurred from stocks that occurred between 2020 and 2024.
- At the end of 2024, Barra held 3,038,678 shares in GM. That was about 27.2 times the salary that year.
According to a government and company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, General Motors CEO Maryborough sold about 40% of her personal shares at the company in August.
A GM spokesman confirmed on September 4th that Barra sold its total shares and exercised options worth approximately $35.4 million from the sale of 994,863 shares of shares last month.
According to GM, Barra sold 907,024 shares of GM stock at an average price of $58.24 at a sale on August 28th for about $52.8 million. The following day, on August 29, Barra sold 87,839 shares for $58.13 at a wind-blowed price of an estate planning tool called the roughly $5.1 million subsidy-retaining pension trust.
Barra’s sales included stock options. That is, there was the option of buying stocks at a fixed price called Strike Price. Barra won more from the sale, as the shares sold are worth today than the strike price she received.
breakdown:
- Barra sold 297,000 shares at an average price of $58.24, accounting for about $17.3 million.
- Barra sold 235,000 money options at an act price of $39, bringing it to about $4.5 million.
- Barra sold 375,024 at an act price of $35.49, bringing it to about $8.5 million.
- Barra sold 87,839 shares from the pension trust for $58.13, earning about $5.1 million.
Stock options sold came as performance compensation from Barra’s compensation on February 14, 2020, and also submitted stocks that occurred between 2011 and 2024.
Barra’s stock sales are not wary of his company, according to Dan Ives, senior equity analyst and managing director at Wedbush Securities.
“We’re not worried about this and it’s about stocks that hit some triggers,” Ives said. “Barra continues to be an important part of GM’s success and we don’t see this as a needle mover.”
The trigger means he can put an algorithm in place that automatically sells stocks of some executives when GM reaches a certain price. GM confirmed that this applies to Barra’s compensation.
Executive Stock Sales are managed via the 10B5-1 plan. The plan identifies specific blocks and options in stock for sale automatically at a given price. This defends against insider trading accusations of employees who may have access to material private information. GM confirmed that Barra’s plan is such a plan and this is shown in the filing.
Because GM is a publicly available company, you must disclose your executive stock purchase or sale with the SEC. In 2023, GM CFO Paul Jacobson used $1.01 million of his money to buy 31,000 shares for $32.60.
Senior analyst at Morningstar David Wyston said the rose stock sales were too vague to conclude whether it was a concern.
“It’s definitely always difficult to say,” Whiston told Detroit Free Press, part of the USA Today network. “It can make a profit. She may think that the stocks won’t rise any further. Or it may be unrelated to GM in that she is buying a number of other expensive reasons, such as a big house, a yacht, a jet, or a personal investment.”
How to pay for GM CEOs
A significant portion of Barra’s compensation is distributed through company stock compared to traditional salaries. 92% of Barra’s wages are risky. That is, it depends on the performance or achievement of a particular company’s goal, and a significant portion of it is in a form of long-term equity, GM spokesman Jim Cain told Detroit Free Press.
Last year, restricted stock and performance stock accounted for 76% of Barra’s total 2024 coverage, Cain said.
Barra “has to be able to monetize her stock awards from time to time, and these sales represent her usual course monetization action,” Cain said. “Mary continues to be very interested in the performance of GM and GM stocks as Mary’s holdings and stocks have not yet been vested.”
Under GM’s policy, Barra is subject to a stock ownership requirement of six times the annual salary. This has been $2.1 million since 2017.
At the end of 2024, Barra had 3,038,678 shares in GM. That was about 27.2 times the salary that year, according to the company’s 2025 proxy statement. After selling shares last month, Barra’s ownership interest now stands at 22.9 times its salary in 2024.
Barra won $29.5 million in 2024 and was categorized into these categories: $2.1 million salary, $19.5 million in equity awards from record financial profits per year, $6.6 million in incentive planning coverage, and $1.2 million in other payments for items such as benefits, savings plans, insurance, medical care, or company vehicles.
At its annual June 3rd meeting, GM’s board of directors approved a 7.7% increase in Barra’s short-term and long-term compensation, saying it was “commensurate with its strategy of rewarding performance, motivating and providing market competitive compensation.”
The board noted that the increase reflects the fact that Barra’s compensation had previously remained flat for the third year in a row.
Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Contact her at jcharniga@freepress.com. Jamie L. Larrow is a senior Autos writer covering Ford Motor Company for the Detroit Free Press. Please contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jarouan. Sign up for our car newsletter. Become a subscriber.
