San Francisco - Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has unlocked
the first portion of his 55-billion-dollar compensation package, the
company announced Thursday.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who does not receive a salary from
Tesla, had opted for a 12-tranche pay plan in 2018, based upon the
company reaching certain milestones.
The first of two conditions to reach the first tranche was met
earlier in May when Tesla's average value on the stock exchange
totalled more than 100 billion dollars for six months.
Tesla's board acknowledged the achievement in a regulatory filing on
Thursday and certified the completion of the second requirement - for
Tesla to achieve 20 billion dollars in revenue.
The satisfied condition allows the 48-year-old to buy more than 1.6
million shares at 350.02 dollars apiece. The company's share price
closed at 805.81 dollars on Thursday.
If sold at current value, those shares could reap a windfall worth
more than 775 million dollars if he were to sell the shares based on
current value.
However, Musk must hold on to the shares for at least five years.
The achievement is a small step in an ambitious plan which aims to
increase Tesla's market value to 650 billion by the end of the
decade.
It is unclear whether Musk exercised his option to buy the shares
yet.
Despite being worth close to 40 billion dollars according to
Bloomberg's billionaire index, most of Musk's wealth is tied up in
stock, Business Insider reported.
Tesla's board said that "100 per cent of Mr Musk's future
compensation is at-risk" because of his unvested stocks.