Tesla offers pay package to CEO Elon Musk that could be worth up to $1 trillion
Tesla’s board is asking shareholders to approve a new pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could be worth up to $1 trillion in a decade, representing one of the richest compensation packages in corporate history.
According to a regulatory filing published Friday, the electric car maker’s board wants to award Musk about 423 million shares, which today have a value of $143 billion, if the company hits certain profitability, production and market capitalization milestones.
To earn the full pay package, Tesla would have to reach a market cap of $8.5 trillion — about eight times its current value — in 10 years. At that level, the stock awarded to Musk would be worth more than $1 trillion.
Tesla would also need to hit certain operational targets for Musk to collect the full pay package. Those include delivering 20 million vehicles; producing 1 million of the automaker’s self-driving “robotaxis”; and manufacturing 1 million of the company’s humanoid robots, dubbed Optimus, which are currently under development.
The entrepreneur’s previous compensation has drawn legal challenges. In 2018, Tesla investors filed a lawsuit challenging Musk’s $56 billion pay package, alleging that he and the company’s board had breached their fiduciary duties. In December, a Delaware judge ordered the company to revoke that award.
In August, Tesla said it was granting Musk shares totaling around $29 billion.
