After many months of plummeting sales and disastrous earnings, Tesla has awarded its controversial CEO a whopping $29 billion worth of its shares in a bid to keep him at the helm of the carmaker.
After a Delaware judge threw out his astronomical pay package last year, which was worth $56 billion at the time, shareholders are terrified that his incredibly damaging leadership could soon come to an end.
While continuing to attempt to get the pay package reinstated, the board granted him a "good faith" effort in "96 million restricted shares of stock" — worth just under $29 billion at the current share price — as a "first step," according to a lengthy and gushing statement to shareholders by the company's board.
"It is imperative to retain and motivate our extraordinary talent, beginning with Elon," the statement reads. "The war for AI talent is intensifying, with recent months including multi-billion-dollar acquisitions of companies and nine-figure cash compensation packages for non-founder, individual AI engineers."
In other words, the board is seemingly worried that the richest man in the world isn't getting his fair share and could walk.
"As you know, Elon has not received meaningful compensation for eight years since the 2012 CEO Performance Award was last earned in 2017," the statement reads. "Despite overwhelming support from you in 2018 and again in 2024, our legal efforts continue in the Delaware courts to reinstate the 2018 CEO Performance Award. "
Musk's original pay package "continues to be in legal limbo despite two separate shareholder votes supporting it by large margins," the board wrote. "Furthermore, we have no clear timeline for resolution, as we are still waiting not only for a ruling."
It's a baffling development, considering the current state the carmaker finds itself in. Sales continue to tank across the world, largely the result of Musk's own actions and his infamous embrace of far-right ideologies that have alienated vast swathes of former customers and fans.
Even the company's eleventh-hour refresh of its Model Y SUV has done little to inject life into a greatly tarnished brand.
The news comes after Musk conceded that his 13 percent ownership stake in the company leaves him vulnerable during the company's second-quarter earnings call, arguing that his "control over Tesla, Inc. should be enough to ensure that it goes in a good direction, but not so much control that I can't be thrown out if I go crazy."
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