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Elon Musk’s long-disputed 2018 Tesla compensation package is once again making headlines after a court overturned a prior ruling that voided the deal.
According to Equilar data cited by The Wall Street Journal, the 2018 stock-option award is now worth $139.2 billion, as of Tesla’s closing stock price on Friday, December 19. With his 2018 options restored, Elon Musk now beneficially owns 18.1% of the Company.
The plan granted Musk stock options to purchase roughly 304 million Tesla shares, contingent upon the Company meeting a series of 12 tranches of ambitious market capitalization and operational milestones.
Despite receiving shareholder approval in 2018, Musk’s 2018 Tesla compensation package was voided in January 2024 by a Delaware Court of Chancery judge, who found conflicts of interest among certain directors and inadequate disclosure in the proxy materials that left shareholders insufficiently informed.
The decision was overturned today, with the court ruling that fully voiding the pay package was inequitable because it left Musk uncompensated for six years.
While shareholders have since approved an even larger performance-based plan, the 2018 pay package, now valued at $139.2 billion, remains one of the most consequential and controversial executive compensation awards.
Associate Editor at Equilar
Joyce Chen, Associate Editor at Equilar, authored this post. Courtney Yu, Director of Research, and Andrew Gordon, Senior Director of Research Services, contributed data and analysis. Please contact Amit Batish, Sr. Director of Content & Communications, abatish@equilar.com for more information on Equilar research and data analysis.
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