Chief executive will pay $2bn to buy stock in the carmaker at 2018 price after court rules against pay deal
Chief executive will pay $2bn to buy stock in the carmaker at 2018 price after court rules against pay deal
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Tesla’s board has approved the award of $30bn (£23bn) worth of shares to its chief executive, Elon Musk, after a US court ruled against a previous pay deal for the world’s richest person.
Musk will pay $2bn to buy 96m shares in the electric carmaker at the same price as the 10-year pay package agreed in 2018, which is stuck in legal limbo awaiting a court date for an appeal. The award was based on a recommendation from a “special committee” of the board.
The announcement in a financial filing was accompanied by a shareholder letter from two members of the committee, Tesla’s chair, Robyn Denholm, and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson.
It described the award as a “good faith” payment to Musk after the previous pay deal, worth $56bn, was rescinded in 2024 by a judge in Delaware, where the company was incorporated until June that year.
“To recognise what Elon has accomplished and the extraordinary value he delivered to Tesla and our shareholders, we believe we must take action to honour the bargain that was struck in 2018,” the directors wrote.
