Tesla discloses $158.36 billion stock award for Musk under 2025 pay plan
The award, split into 12 tranches, requires Tesla to reach an $8.5 trillion market capitalization for full vesting
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Chart: TSLA, one-minute prices, three sessions
Tesla has disclosed that Chief Executive Elon Musk's 2025 compensation includes $158.36 billion in stock awards. The figure formalizes a pay package shareholders approved earlier this year, confirming the exact size of an award that had already been expected rather than revealing anything new about Musk's role at the company.
The award is structured in 12 tranches. Each one vests only when Tesla hits both a market capitalization target and an operational milestone, according to Tesla's 8-K filing. Full vesting requires the company to reach an $8.5 trillion market capitalization, up from $2 trillion at the first milestone, a Tesla proxy filing shows. The operational conditions include delivering 20 million vehicles cumulatively, putting 1 million robotaxis into commercial service, deploying 1 million Optimus robots, and generating up to $400 billion in core profits, according to FinanceMagnates. The plan was approved by 75% of shareholders at Tesla's annual meeting, FinanceMagnates reported.
The package dwarfs Musk's 2018 pay plan, which required Tesla's market value to grow from roughly $50 billion to $650 billion, a target the company reached within four years, according to a shareholder proxy filing. If Musk meets every milestone under the new plan, his voting power and share ownership could rise to 28.8% of Tesla, the filing shows. Shares he earns must be held for five years afterward, with limited exceptions, according to a Tesla 10-K/A filing.
The disclosure lands as speculation builds over a possible Tesla-SpaceX merger before December, after Barclays flagged the possibility and separately began covering SpaceX at Overweight with a $254 price target. Prediction markets are now pricing better than even odds on a merger by 2027. Neither development is addressed by the pay award itself, which also leaves untouched the nearer-term questions, including Cybercab certification and Optimus production, that have been moving Tesla's stock.