Startup LiDAR Luminar Technologies, Inc. poached Tesla VP of Legal Affairs Alan Prescott from the Austin EV leader with a massive $30 million compensation package.
Prescott left Tesla last April after just under four years to join Luminar as the company’s chief legal officer. Prescott worked for Ford for just one year as an engineer before leaving to pursue a law degree at Georgetown University. Prescott then returned to Ford for ten years before leaving to join Tesla in 2017.
Tesla loses VP of legal affairs at LiDAR startup Luminar
The $30 million compensation package was set out in a 10-K that Luminar filed with the SEC on March 1. According to Bloomberg Law, the bulk of Prescott’s compensation consists of more than $29.5 million in stock awards over six years, according to people familiar with the cause.
The report states that Prescott joined Luminar on April 26 and received a new initial equity grant with long-term equity incentives. The combination of Prescott’s cash salary with stock compensation is “roughly in line with what he had at Tesla, and it was necessary to hire a lawyer with his experience in the auto industry,” the report said, citing an inside source.
10-K says:
“On March 25, 2021, we and Mr. Prescott entered into an employment agreement, which was amended on November 11, 2021. Pursuant to this agreement, as amended, Mr. Prescott is entitled to a base salary of $50,000 for the satisfactory achievement of performance goals and participation in our employee benefit plans. Mr. Prescott’s employment is “optional” and may be terminated by either party at any time. Among other equity-based incentives, in his contract of employment, Mr. Prescott received RSU 353,000 to be transferred within four years of its commencement date, subject to his continued service on each vesting date, provided that in In the event that Mr. Prescott is terminated, resigns for good cause, or we have a change of control, he will be entitled to the remaining unallocated shares of such RSU grant immediately.”
Luminar will pay Prescott an annual base salary of $300,000 plus bonuses of $50,000.
Over the past few years, several members of Tesla’s legal department have vacated their positions. Lynn Miller, Tesla’s former deputy general counsel, left the company last year to join autonomous trucking startup Plus. In addition, earlier this year, Tesla lost VP of Human Resources Valerie Capers Workman, a human resources specialist.
LiDAR has long been criticized by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who called the technology a “stupid idea.” “They are all going to abandon lidar,” Musk said at Tesla Autonomy Day 2019. “Anyone who relies on lidar is doomed.”
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Startup LiDAR poached Tesla’s VP of legal affairs with a $30 million compensation package
