Tesla has granted its chief executive Elon Musk $29bn (£21.7bn) worth of its shares, in an attempt to keep the billionaire at the firm.
The move comes after a US court struck down his 2018 pay package, worth more than $50bn, ruling that it was “unfair to shareholders”.
Musk has been appealing the decision made by the Delaware court in 2024 and on Monday Tesla told shareholders it was “confident” that the $29bn of shares “will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla” especially as “the war for AI talent is intensifying”.
The award should boost Musk’s voting power on the electric car company’s board.
“It is imperative to retain and motivate our extraordinary talent, beginning with Elon”, Tesla’s board wrote on X, a platform owned by Musk, adding that “no one matches Elon’s remarkable combination of leadership experience, technical expertise”.
The company said the billionaire had a “proven track record” in building “revolutionary and profitable businesses”.
Tesla said if the Delware court reinstated Musk’s 2018 pay deal, he would forfeit or return the latest share aware to avoid a “double dip”.
The carmaker’s board said it hoped its chief executive could be awarded the deal worth $56bn, which would be the biggest pay deal in corporate American history.
The deal was structured in such a way that if Mr Musk did not hit certain milestones – such as Tesla’s market value, sales and underlying profit – he would not get paid at all.
But he achieved the targets that were laid out.
Musk’s appeal to get his pay packet reinstated argues that the lower court made legal errors when rescinding his pay package. He has previously said that it should be company shareholders who decide pay.
Musk’s latest pay deal comes as tech firms trying to assert themselves in the AI sector have been offering huge sums to workers at rivals in an effort to persuade them to join them and boost their development.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was said to have recently tried to lure top developers from ChatGPT-creator OpenAI with million-dollar pay deals.
Meanwhile Microsoft’s AI division, headed up by former Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, recently gained several new hires from Google’s ranks.
Tesla the company was at an “inflection point” and needed Musk’s prowess as it pivots from being an electric vehicle firm to an AI and robotics focussed company.
The company added that the share award would be attractive for Musk “with other “demands on his time and attention”.
Musk’s other roles include executive positions at xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, which makes tunnels and other infrastructure in the US.
He recently announced that he was stepping back from politics, after a stint as US President Donald Trump’s advisor.
