TSLA: Tesla Stock Adds 2.2% as Board Approves $30 Billion Pay Package to Retain Elon Musk

Eccentric billionaire is set to receive 96 million Tesla shares. The board said it hopes “this award will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla.” In other words, “Here, hope this makes you happy. Will you stay now?”

💸 $30 Billion Worth of Incentive

• Tesla stock TSLA rose 2.2% Monday after the company’s board over the weekend approved a massive 96 million-share award worth $30 billion to CEO Elon Musk. The move seeks to keep him tethered to the company after years of veiled threats and tweets.
• In a letter to shareholders, the board wrote: “Retaining Elon is more important than ever before... we are confident this award will incentivize him to remain at Tesla.”
• Musk must forfeit this new award if he ends up winning a legal battle over his 2018 $56 billion compensation package, which was previously voided by a Delaware court.

🚗 Musk Owns 13% of Tesla

• And by the looks of the shares’ moves, traders appear to agree that keeping Elon around is bullish, despite his many other companies and even a political party making up different parts of his day.
• Musk, the world’s richest person, currently holds over 400 million shares, or 13% of the company, worth about $125 billion — this new package could bring him closer to his stated goal of 25% voting power.
• Some Tesla investors see the new award as not just a retention strategy, but a way to lock down Musk’s attention amid his growing portfolio of ventures, including SpaceX, xAI, Neuralink, and the Boring company.

🤖 AI, Robotics... and a Subtle Ultimatum

• In January 2024, Musk posted on X that he was “uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics” without more control — a public ultimatum that rattled shareholders.
• Tesla has ambitious AI plans — from autonomous driving to Optimus, its humanoid robot — but Musk has said he wouldn’t hesitate to move out his robot-building activities unless he had a tighter grip. In recent quarters, Musk’s absence has been coinciding with lower revenue and that could’ve prompted the board to act.
• The pay package could be Tesla’s way of calling his bluff — “Here’s $30 billion. Stay and build robots.”