Elon Musk has bought $1 billion worth of Tesla shares in his first open-market purchase since 2020, underscoring his commitment to the carmaker as it prepares for a shareholder vote on a record-breaking compensation package.
Regulatory filings show Musk acquired 2.6 million shares through a revocable trust at prices ranging from $372 to $396, lifting his stake in Tesla above 13 per cent. The purchase sparked a rally of almost 10 per cent in early trading, before shares closed up 3.6 per cent at $410.26. Tesla stock has gained 18 per cent in the past five days and is nearing its all-time high of $480, reached at the end of last year.
The move comes as Tesla’s board has proposed a $1 trillion pay deal for Musk if he grows the company’s market capitalisation from about $1.3 trillion to $8.5 trillion by 2035. The package would give him 12 tranches of shares if Tesla hits “formidable” milestones, including producing 20 million vehicles, launching one million robo-taxis, delivering one million Optimus robots, and lifting adjusted earnings to $400 billion.
Musk’s share buy marks his first personal investment in Tesla stock since a modest $10 million purchase on Valentine’s Day in 2020. Since then, he has sold about $20 billion of shares, much of it to finance his controversial purchase of Twitter, now X, in 2022.
The new pay plan, which could lift his stake in Tesla to at least 25 per cent, is designed to sharpen his focus on the carmaker after political distractions and other ventures weighed on Tesla’s sales and reputation. First-quarter profits this year slumped by more than 70 per cent.
Musk has already agreed to scale back his political activities “in a timely manner” as part of the agreement. He previously advised the Trump administration on efficiency measures before a high-profile split last year.
Robyn Denholm, Tesla’s chairwoman, defended the plan in a letter to investors: “If Elon achieves all the performance milestones, his leadership will propel Tesla to become the most valuable company in history.”
Musk, 54, remains bullish about Tesla’s future, particularly its work in AI, robotics and autonomous driving, although he has warned of “a few rough quarters” when US incentives for EV purchases expire later this month.
The billionaire’s personal wealth, estimated at $378 billion, is once again under scrutiny after Oracle founder Larry Ellison briefly overtook him as the world’s richest man this week.
