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Tesla Inc. Elon Musk took the first of many major paydays today. After reaching a series of performance milestones, Tesla Inc. reported impressive numbers for the first quarter of 2020. Despite delays in production due to the coronavirus, the electric vehicle maker continued to surge through, even breaking sales records in China. As a result of such success, Musk received the first tranche of a major stock option payout which received attention earlier this spring.
Because Musk only takes payment in the form of stock options, not salaried pay or bonus pay, he must reach certain milestones in order to claim his payouts. In this most recent payout, estimated at over $700 million worth of Tesla stock options, Musk received options because he kept Tesla’s market capitalization at $100 billion. As sources at CNBC report, “The tranche is comprised of about 1.7 million shares of Tesla, and would be valued around $775 million based on Thursday’s closing market value. Shares in Tesla closed at $805.81 on Thursday, and the options have a strike price of $350.02.”
At this time it’s unclear whether Musk has exercised the full portion of his stock option values. Under the current arrangement, Musk maintains access to an additional 11 incentives. In each instance, the CEO must reach certain milestones in order to receive stock options.
