Tesla Approves Elon Musk's $29 Billion Pay Package Despite Political Risks
The new compensation terms come after a Delaware judge blocked a previous $55 billion compensation plan from 2018, siding with shareholders who argued the deal was unfairly approved.
The plan was also announced during a pivotal moment for the struggling EV maker, which is trying to expand into robotaxis and humanoid robots. Many investors are worried that Musk's controversial forays into politics are hurting the company's brand. Indeed, recent data from research firm S&P Global Mobility found that Tesla's loyalty rate fell from 73% to 57.4% in the last year.
The board said in a letter to shareholders on Monday that it approved the new compensation plan. The award gives Musk 96 million restricted Tesla shares, worth about $29 billion at current prices, if he stays in a senior leadership role for two years. Musk will have to pay $23.34 per share and then hold most of the stock for five years. If the courts reinstate his original 2018 pay deal, this new award gets canceled to avoid double-dipping.
'To be clear, losing Elon would not only mean the loss of his talents but also the loss of a leader who is a magnet for hiring and retaining talent at Tesla,' wrote board members Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson in the letter. Denholm and Wilson-Thompson formed the special committee that drafted the pay package.
Musk's 2018 CEO pay plan—the largest in history at nearly $56 billion—hit a major roadblock when shareholder Richard Tornetta filed a lawsuit accusing Musk of influencing the board. Tornetta's lawyers even claimed Musk intended to use the payout to bankroll his plans to colonize Mars. The case is still tied up in court.
Meanwhile, Musk's recent political moves have alienated a lot of typical EV buyers, sparking worries that he could end up dragging the whole electric car industry down with him.
A recent study in Nature showed that Musk's political activities are hurting public opinion of Tesla, especially among U.S. liberals, resulting in declining interest not just in Teslas, but in EVs more broadly. The study tracked shifting attitudes before and after Musk's high-profile endorsements of Donald Trump and his leadership role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Earlier this month, Tesla reported that its car sales fell 13% year-over-year in the second quarter. The company's stock has fallen 24% since the beginning of the year.
Some investors have been urging Musk to get out of politics for months. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note in May that Musk's political moves are going to have a lasting impact.
'The brand damage caused by Musk in the White House/DOGE over the past few months will not go away,' Ives wrote. 'Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk.'
On Monday, Ives predicted that the new compensation package means Musk will remain at the helm of Tesla until at least 2030, adding a trophy emoji.
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