CEO receives $24 billion dollar gift to incentivize him doing the job of Chief Executive Officer going forward
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That’s billions with a “b”:
Tesla took a “first step” to keep its leader Elon Musk focused on the struggling electric-vehicle maker, awarding the world’s richest man one of the biggest-ever stock awards to stick around for at least two years.
Tesla’s board approved a stock award for Musk that it tentatively valued at $23.7 billion, which he can claim in two years unless a court rescues his prior, larger stock-option grant. Musk has run Tesla without a pay package since his $50 billion option award was tossed by a court in 2024.
The electric-vehicle maker said its “interim award” of 96 million shares will vest as long as Musk remains on the job as chief executive or under another executive title heading product development or operations, according to a securities filing. It described the award as a “first step, good faith payment” to keep the world’s richest man engaged.
Tesla’s business has been in a funk this year amid falling vehicle sales as investors fret about how much time Musk is spending on other pursuits. After stepping back from his work as a White House adviser in late May, he has overseen the launch of Tesla’s robotaxi service. But he also has been rounding up billions in funding for money-losing xAI while SpaceX overcame a Starship rocket explosion in June to successfully send four astronauts to the International Space Station.
To summarize Republican economic ideology, ordinary workers will get too lazy to work if they are provided access to basic healthcare, while already world-historically compensated CEOs cannot reasonably be expected to do their basic jobs without being paid enough money the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Dodgers and have plenty to spare to pick up a few private islands.