Elon Musk earns from Tesla more than $700 million

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk earned the first portion of an incentive-based stock option payout, the company confirmed in a regulatory filing today.
• Based on terms in the filings, Musk will receive the first tranche for keeping the company’s market capitalization at $100 billion along with other revenue milestones.
• A Tesla stockholder is challenging the compensation plan, alleging it is excessive and a breach of board members’ fiduciary duty.

Tesla confirmed that CEO Elon Musk earned the first tranche of his massive incentive payout, in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

The tranche is comprised of about 1.7 million shares of Tesla, and would be valued around $775 million based on Thursday’s closing market value. Shares in Tesla closed at $805.81 on Thursday, and the options have a strike price of $350.02.

Thursday’s filing, which also set a date of July 7 for the company’s annual shareholders meeting, said:

“As of the date of this proxy statement, one of the 12 tranches under this award has vested and become exercisable, subject to Mr. Musk’s payment of the exercise price of $350.02 per share and the minimum five-year holding period generally applicable to any shares he acquires upon exercise.” It is not clear if Musk has yet exercised the options.

Musk earned the first portion of his stock options for keeping the company’s market capitalization at $100 billion on a 30-day and six-month trailing average.

Tesla reopened its Fremont plant the weekend of May 9, in defiance of local health orders with no consequences. 

Source: Cnbc.com