Tesla CEO Elon Musk is fighting a court decision to void his $50 billion pay package, but the compensation he’ll receive instead is nothing to sneeze at. The automaker’s board recently approved a package worth around $29 billion, which it says should be enough to keep Musk in the CEO chair.
The previous pay package was voided by a Delaware court last year, leading Musk to appeal the order in March. In its filing, the compensation committee wrote, “While we recognize Elon’s business ventures, interests, and other potential demands on his time and attention are extensive and wide-ranging… we are confident that this award will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla.”
Global sales are down, leading the automaker to stop sales of some models in China. Tesla is also set to lose access to federal EV tax credits when they end this year, which won’t help its cause, and it will also lose the ability to sell regulatory credits to other companies, which have generated billions in revenue.
Musk is Tesla’s largest shareholder, but in recent times, the automaker hasn’t been riding the highs it once did. He’s betting heavily on autonomous vehicles, pushing forward with a robotaxi program in Austin, San Francisco, and other cities, but his involvement in politics has left a bad taste in many potential buyers’ mouths.
[Images: Tesla]
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