"The pay package, worth tens of billions of dollars, was laid out back in 2018. It didn't give Musk a salary, but instead, promised him more and more Tesla shares the better the company did. The goals laid out for the highest awards which called for Tesla's value to grow tenfold seemed somewhere between audacious and utterly impossible at the time."
"Back then, the board told shareholders Musk could stand to gain $55.8 billion if he met all the goals. The company grew incredibly quickly, and Tesla says that Musk unlocked the full suite of shares in 2022. The exact value of the pay package depends on when and how you count; Tesla's share price is volatile. But as of mid-October 2025, with Tesla stock at $429.24, the pay package could hypothetically be worth well over $100 billion."
"In 2018, a Tesla shareholder named Richard Tornetta filed a suit against Musk, Tesla and Tesla's board of directors accusing members of the board of violating their legal obligation, called a fiduciary duty, to act in the best interests of shareholders and the company overall. Tornetta argued that Musk had too much influence over the board and, in turn, too much influence over how much money he stood to make."
Tesla granted Elon Musk a performance-based equity package in 2018 that awarded increasing shares as the company met ambitious growth milestones, including targets requiring a tenfold increase in company value. The board estimated Musk could receive $55.8 billion if all goals were achieved. Tesla states the full award was unlocked in 2022, and the package's present value fluctuates with Tesla's volatile share price, potentially exceeding $100 billion as of mid-October 2025. Shareholder Richard Tornetta sued in 2018, alleging the board breached fiduciary duties, that Musk exerted excessive influence over the board, and that shareholders lacked full disclosure when approving the award.
Read at www.npr.org
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