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Henrik Fisker, CEO of electric car maker Fisker Inc., has cut his salary to $1 to cover bankruptcy costs after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.
According to documents filed in bankruptcy court on Tuesday on behalf of Fisker’s chief restructuring officer, John DiDonato, Mr. Fisker and his wife, Dr. Gita Gupta Fisker, the company’s chief operating officer, will voluntarily cut their annual salaries to $1.
Related: Elon Musk rekindles feud with Henrik Fisker
According to reports, the couple made the decision on July 8 after a hearing on July 3 asked them whether they were still on the payroll by lawyers for the U.S. Trustee’s office to ensure all cost-cutting measures were being implemented as the bankruptcy proceedings continue.
The filing also said Fisker would waive payments of “certain severance payments, certain employee medical benefits and vehicle sales incentives” that have not yet been paid.
Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker speaks at the company’s first “Product Vision Day” (Frederick J. Brown/AFP) (Photo by Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s not yet clear how much the Fisker brothers were being paid before they took the pay cut, but a separate SEC filing from 2022 listed them as each receiving a cash bonus of $710,000 and a minimum wage of $62,400.
Related: The company caps its CEO’s pay based on how much its lowest-paid employees make.
The electric car company, once seen as a threat to Tesla and others, filed for bankruptcy in a Delaware court last month, just a year after delivering its first vehicle, the Ocean, and six years after officially founding.
“Like others in the electric vehicle industry, we face a variety of market and macroeconomic headwinds that impact our ability to operate efficiently,” Fisker said. It said in a statement At the time of filing, the company said, “After considering all options for our business, we have determined that proceeding with an asset sale under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection represents the most practical path forward for our company.”
The company estimated its assets at between $500 million and $1 billion and its liabilities at between $100 million and $500 million.