Carvana Doles Out $17 Million in Pay to Two C-Suite Attorneys

Carvana Co., an online automobile retailer under scrutiny for its business practices, awarded almost $17.2 million in total compensation to two lawyers in its C-suite, according to a recent securities filing.

Paul Breaux, the company’s general counsel and chief compliance officer, earned almost $6.7 million in his first year as a named executive officer at Carvana in 2024, per a preliminary proxy statement filed March 14. Benjamin Huston, a former Big Law associate who co-founded Carvana and now serves as its COO, received a pay package last year valued at more than $10.5 million.

Separate securities filings show that Breaux sold more than $41.9 million in Carvana stock within the past year. He still owns shares in Carvana worth about $26.9 million, according to Bloomberg data.

During that same time Huston has unloaded roughly $12.5 million in company shares. Bloomberg data shows that Huston’s current Carvana stock holdings are valued at $34.5 million. Huston was an associate at Latham & Watkins in California prior to co-founding Carvana in 2012 with the company’s longtime president and CEO Ernest Garcia III and Ryan Keeton, its chief brand officer.

Stock and option awards that vest in future years make up most of what Breaux and Huston were paid last year. Huston’s base salary was $923,000, while Breaux’s was $585,000. Huston had previously earned about $6.5 million in 2023 and almost $5.6 million in 2022, years in which Breaux wasn’t listed among the five highest-paid executives at the Tempe, Arizona-based car seller.

Breaux and Huston didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Nor did Carvana, which in January saw its share price whipsaw following the release of a report by short-seller Hindenburg Research accusing the car-selling platform of impropriety. Carvana denied Hindenburg’s claims, calling them “intentionally misleading and inaccurate,” and announced a $4 billion used-car deal with Ally Financial Inc.

Hindenburg said in mid-January it would wind down its operations, starting a rally in Carvana shares. The following month Garcia, Carvana’s top executive, spoke with Bloomberg TV about the company’s financial performance.

Carvana’s proxy states that “2024 was a transformative year” for the company, which said it enjoyed “record-breaking achievements across key operational and financial metrics.” Carvana’s stock swings have been a wild ride for investors, who watched the company complete a $1.3 billion debt restructuring in 2023.

Kirkland & Ellis advised Carvana on that matter and handled the company’s initial public offering in 2017. Breaux, a former associate at what is now called Hunton Andrews Kurth, joined Carvana in 2015.

Carvana said its executive compensation plans are designed to “effectively support our strategic and financial goals and support innovation and performance,” according to its most recent proxy.