T-Mobile CEO Salary: What the SEC Filing Shows
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TL;DR:>
- Srinivasan Gopalan received a reported total compensation of $35.4 million for FY2025, mostly from stock awards. His employment agreement sets contractual pay floors and targets that will govern his pay through 2030. Actual cash received may differ significantly from these figures due to vesting and stock performance.*
Srinivasan Gopalan, President and CEO of T-Mobile US, received total reported compensation of $35.4 million for fiscal year 2025, according to SEC filings. Stock awards account for roughly $27.1 million of that figure. Base salary, by contrast, came in at approximately $861,539 — a small fraction of the total package. For context, his predecessor G. Michael (Mike) Sievert reported $30.04 million in total compensation for FY2024. The authoritative source for both figures is the SEC's EDGAR database, specifically the DEF 14A proxy statement and the 8-K employment agreement filing.
- Current CEO: Srinivasan Gopalan (effective November 1, 2025)
- FY2025 total reported compensation: $35.4 million
- Largest component: Stock awards (~$27.1 million)
- Base salary: ~$861,539
- Prior CEO (FY2024): G. Michael (Mike) Sievert at $30.04 million
- Primary source: SEC DEF 14A proxy / 8-K employment agreement
$35.4M — Gopalan's FY2025 reported total compensation, up roughly 18% from Sievert's FY2024 figure of $30.04M.*
Table of Contents
- What does the T-Mobile CEO salary look like, broken down by component?
- How Gopalan's employment agreement shapes future T-Mobile CEO pay
- Why reported total compensation differs from what the CEO actually receives
- How does T-Mobile CEO pay compare to the broader telecom sector?
- How to verify T-Mobile CEO pay figures yourself
- Key Takeaways
- The numbers tell only part of the story
- Salary data without the paywall
- Useful sources
- FAQ
What does the T-Mobile CEO salary look like, broken down by component?
The table below maps each compensation line item for both Gopalan (FY2025) and Sievert (FY2024), drawn from SEC filings. All figures reflect the proxy's Summary Compensation Table conventions: equity is valued at grant-date fair value, and incentive figures reflect actual payouts.
| Component | Gopalan FY2025 | Sievert FY2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $861,539 | $1,850,000 |
| Stock awards (grant-date value) | $27.1 million | — |
| Other compensation (perks, retirement) | Not separately itemized | Not separately itemized |
| Total reported compensation | $35.4 million | $30.04 million |
Gopalan's base salary looks low relative to Sievert's because his employment agreement took effect November 1, 2025 — so the FY2025 proxy captures only two months at the new $1.4 million annual rate, with the remaining months at a transitional rate. The stock-award jump from $20.4 million to $27.1 million explains most of the year-over-year increase. Third-party aggregators like rentseek.ing reproduce these totals but pull directly from the same SEC filings, so always verify against the primary source.
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How Gopalan's employment agreement shapes future T-Mobile CEO pay
The employment agreement, signed September 19, 2025 and effective November 1, 2025, sets contractual floors that will govern compensation well into 2030.
Key terms:
- Initial base salary: $1,400,000 per year
- Annual short-term incentive (STIP) target: 250% of base salary for 2026 and beyond, subject to payout caps
- Annual LTI Target Value floor: $19.5 million starting in 2026
- Peer-group escalation schedule: Base salary steps up to the 40th percentile of the CEO peer group on January 1, 2026; to the 45th percentile on January 1, 2027 and 2028; and to the 50th percentile on January 1, 2029 and 2030
- One-time transition benefits: Relocation allowances and capped family airfare (first-class) are included as separate line items, not recurring annual pay
- Clawback and excise-tax provisions: Standard best-pay cap applies, consistent with SEC clawback rules
The peer-group percentile escalation means Gopalan's base salary cannot decrease year over year — it can only stay flat or rise. At the 50th percentile by 2029, his base will align with the median CEO salary in T-Mobile's defined peer group, whatever that figure is at the time. Pro Tip: When reading employment-agreement tables, "Annual LTI Target Value" is the grant-date dollar amount the committee targets for equity awards — it is NOT a guaranteed cash payment. Actual realized value depends on stock price at vesting. A $19.5 million LTI floor means the committee must grant at least that much in equity, but the executive may receive more or less in real dollars depending on T-Mobile's share price.
$19.5M — the contractual minimum Annual LTI Target Value guaranteed to Gopalan starting in 2026, per the employment agreement filed with the SEC.*
Why reported total compensation differs from what the CEO actually receives
SEC proxy tables follow specific accounting rules that can make reported pay look very different from cash actually received in a given year.
- Grant-date fair value: Stock awards are recorded at their value on the day they are granted, using models like Black-Scholes or Monte Carlo simulation. If T-Mobile's stock rises after the grant, the executive realizes more; if it falls, less.
- Vesting conditions: Equity typically vests over three to five years, often tied to performance metrics like total shareholder return (TSR) or subscriber growth. An award reported in FY2025 may not vest until 2028.
- Target vs. actual incentive payouts: The proxy shows actual annual incentive payouts, but multi-year performance awards are reported at target until final performance is certified.
- "Other compensation": This line covers retirement contributions, perquisites, relocation reimbursements, and similar items — amounts that are real cash but often small relative to equity.
A simple example: if Gopalan's $27.1 million in stock awards is tied to a three-year performance period and T-Mobile's stock drops 20% before vesting, the realized value would be closer to $21.7 million. The proxy still shows $27.1 million. That gap is why analysts who use proxy figures for forecasting adjust for realized pay rather than relying on grant-date totals.
"Reported total compensation often exceeds what executives actually take home the year of the grant because equity valuation is subject to future stock performance and vesting conditions." — T-Mobile Proxy, Compensation Discussion and Analysis
The DEF 14A also includes a "Compensation Committee Report" that explains the specific performance metrics used to set awards and the assumptions embedded in grant-date valuations. That narrative is where you find the TSR peer comparisons and the operational milestones tied to vesting.
*How does T-Mobile CEO pay compare to the broader telecom sector?
T-Mobile's compensation philosophy explicitly ties executive pay to long-term value creation through TSR, subscriber growth, and deleveraging milestones. That design is typical across major carriers.
- The telecom sector has moved toward larger, equity-driven packages in the current cycle, with headline totals clustering in the tens of millions for major carrier CEOs.
- Equity and performance-based metrics dominate these packages; base salary is a small fraction of the headline number at every major carrier.
- T-Mobile's CEO-to-median-worker pay ratio reflects the company's internal pay scale and is calculated per SEC rules using a statistically valid sample of the global workforce.
Over 75% of Gopalan's FY2025 reported package is variable or performance-linked — base salary represents a small fraction of the $35.4 million total.
The year-over-year increase from Sievert's total reported compensation to Gopalan's total reported compensation reflects a significant rise, driven almost entirely by the larger equity grant. That kind of jump at a CEO transition is common: incoming executives often receive larger initial equity grants to compensate for unvested awards forfeited at their prior employer.
*How to verify T-Mobile CEO pay figures yourself
- Go to SEC EDGAR. Navigate to SEC EDGAR and search for "T-Mobile US, Inc." or ticker TMUS.
- Open the DEF 14A. Filter for "DEF 14A" filings. The FY2024 proxy (filed in 2025) contains Sievert's compensation table; the FY2025 proxy will contain Gopalan's full-year figures once filed.
- Find the Summary Compensation Table. Inside the proxy, search for "Summary Compensation Table" — this is the primary executive pay table required by SEC rules. The FY2024 proxy uses the archive file
R2.htm. - Check the 8-K for employment agreement terms. The Gopalan employment agreement is in the 8-K filed under archive filename
d916281d8k.htm. This document contains base salary, STIP targets, and LTI floors. - Cross-reference the Form 10-K. The annual report includes executive compensation disclosures and cross-references the proxy for full detail.
- Review the Compensation Committee Report. This narrative inside the DEF 14A explains the performance metrics, peer group, and grant-date assumptions used to value equity awards.
Key Takeaways
Gopalan's FY2025 reported total compensation of $35.4 million is a grant-date figure, heavily performance-linked, and not equivalent to cash received in 2025.
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| Current CEO and FY2025 total | Srinivasan Gopalan reported $35.4M in total compensation per SEC filings. |
| Largest component | Stock awards at ~$27.1M account for over 75% of the reported total. |
| Employment agreement floors | Starting 2026: $1.4M base, 250% STIP target, $19.5M LTI floor — all contractually guaranteed minimums. |
| Reported vs. realized pay | Grant-date equity values differ from actual realized pay; vesting and stock performance determine the real outcome. |
| Salary Atlas for context | Salary Atlas provides fully sourced salary data to help you benchmark executive and occupational pay against BLS figures. |
The numbers tell only part of the story
There is a tendency in financial media to treat the proxy's headline figure as a straightforward paycheck. It is not. Gopalan's $35.4 million is largely a forward-looking bet: the equity component will be worth more or less depending on how T-Mobile performs over the next several years. The base salary — $861,539 for FY2025, rising to $1.4 million under the new agreement — is the only part that functions like a traditional salary.
What the employment agreement reveals is more interesting than the headline number. The peer-group percentile escalation schedule is a structured commitment to keep Gopalan's pay competitive without requiring annual renegotiation. The $19.5 million LTI floor is a retention mechanism as much as a compensation tool. These provisions reflect how boards actually think about CEO pay: less as a reward for past performance and more as a contract designed to align the executive's financial interests with shareholders over a multi-year horizon.
For anyone using these figures in financial analysis or governance research, the right approach is to cite the DEF 14A figures with the fiscal year clearly labeled, note that equity values are grant-date estimates, and adjust for realized pay when estimating actual compensation expense. A market compensation analysis framework helps put peer-group percentile targets in context, especially when comparing across carriers.
*Salary data without the paywall
Salary Atlas publishes fully sourced U.S. salary data — from executive compensation benchmarks to BLS-tracked occupational wages — without requiring a subscription or login. Every figure links back to its primary source, whether that is an SEC filing or a Bureau of Labor Statistics dataset.
If you are researching T-Mobile CEO pay for governance analysis, a compensation study, or career benchmarking, the Salary Atlas methodology page explains exactly how figures are sourced, validated, and updated. Start there, then use the primary SEC filings above to verify the executive-specific numbers directly.
*Useful sources
| Document | What to check | File / Filing |
|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile 8-K (Employment Agreement) | Base salary, STIP target, LTI floor, escalation schedule | d916281d8k.htm |
| DEF 14A Proxy (FY2024) | Sievert FY2024 Summary Compensation Table | R2.htm |
| T-Mobile Employment Agreement (full text) | Duties, base salary schedule, peer-group percentile terms | d916281d8k.htm |
| StockTitan 8-K summary | Quick-reference highlights of employment agreement | StockTitan filing summary |
| TelecomLead sector report | Telecom CEO pay trends, FY2025–2026 cycle | TelecomLead report |
FAQ
Who is the current CEO of T-Mobile US?
Srinivasan Gopalan has served as President and CEO of T-Mobile US since November 1, 2025, succeeding G. Michael (Mike) Sievert.
What is the T-Mobile CEO's total reported compensation for FY2025?
Gopalan's total reported compensation for FY2025 is $35.4 million, with stock awards (~$27.1M) as the largest component, per SEC filings. His base salary for FY2025 was approximately $861,539, reflecting only two months at the new $1.4 million annual rate under the employment agreement effective November 1, 2025.
Why is T-Mobile CEO pay so much higher than the base salary suggests?
Base salary is a small fraction of the package. Over 95% of the reported total is variable compensation — equity awards and performance-based incentives tied to metrics like TSR and subscriber growth.
How does T-Mobile CEO pay compare to other major telecom CEOs?
Major carrier CEOs across the telecom sector report packages in the high tens of millions, driven by equity awards. T-Mobile's $35.4 million for FY2025 places it at the higher end of that range, according to sector reporting.
Where can I find the official T-Mobile CEO compensation figures?
The primary sources are the DEF 14A proxy statement and the 8-K employment agreement filing, both available on SEC EDGAR under T-Mobile US, Inc. (ticker: TMUS).