Tesla stock rise appears to qualify CEO Musk for US$700m payday

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk appeared to qualify on Monday for a US$700 million payday, just three days after he said the electric car company’s stock price was too high.

Tesla shares jumped more than 8 percent on Monday, putting its market capitalisation at US$141.1 billion at the close.

More importantly for Musk, Tesla’s stock market value reached a six-month average of US$100.2 billion, according to an analysis of Refinitiv data.

Hitting a six-month average of US$100 billion triggers the vesting of the first of 12 tranches of options granted to the billionaire to buy Tesla stock as part of a pay package agreed in 2018.

Musk has already met two other requirements by hitting a growth target and far exceeding a one-month average US$100 billion market cap.

Each tranche gives Musk the option to buy 1.69 million Tesla shares at US$350.02 each.

At Tesla’s closing stock price of US$761.19, Musk would theoretically be able to sell the shares for a profit of US$694 million.

Musk on Friday said on Twitter, “Tesla stock price is too high imo [in my opinion].” 

That tweet sent Tesla’s stock tumbling 10 percent, shocking shareholders. Tesla, whose California factory is closed as part of the state’s coronavirus-related lockdowns, posted its third quarterly profit in a row last week.

Musk, who is also the majority owner and CEO of the SpaceX rocket maker, receives no salary or cash bonus, only options that vest based on Tesla’s market cap and milestones for revenue and profit growth.

A full payoff of all tranches would surpass anything previously granted to US executives.

When Tesla unveiled Musk’s package in 2018, it said he could theoretically reap as much as US$55.8 billion if no new shares were issued.

However, Tesla has since issued shares to compensate employees, and last year it sold US$2.7 billion in shares and convertible bonds.

Musk’s subsequent options tranches would vest at US$50 billion increments of Tesla market capitalisation over the agreement’s 10-year period, with the billionaire earning the full package if Tesla’s market capitalisation reaches US$650 billion and the high tech vehicle maker achieves several revenue and profit targets.