Kimbal Musk, the younger brother of the world's wealthiest person, said Elon Musk "deserves to be paid," as Tesla remains locked in a legal saga over its CEO's pay package.
"I think my brother deserves to be paid," Kimbal Musk said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday. "He has zero pay for the past six to eight years. I don't think that's right. I'll let Tesla shareholders make that decision, but I believe that it does need to be. He needs to be paid."
Elon Musk isn't paid a salary or any cash bonuses at Tesla. He is compensated through "performance awards" of valuable stock options that are granted based on Tesla hitting certain milestones.
Earlier this month, Tesla granted Elon Musk an "interim" pay package of 96 million shares, which would be worth about $29 billion. The package includes shares that vest in two years as long as he continues as CEO or in another key executive position.
The pay plan was approved by a "special committee" of the Tesla board, with Elon Musk and Kimbal Musk recusing themselves, board members Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson said in an Aug. 4 letter to shareholders.
The award came after a Delaware judge in December ordered Tesla to revoke Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package from 2018, which was the largest compensation plan in U.S. history for a public company executive.