Tesla has approved a new stock award for CEO Elon Musk worth an estimated $29 billion, offering him 96 million shares as part of a fresh compensation deal aimed at keeping him at the company’s helm. The move comes just months after a Delaware court voided Musk’s earlier 2018 pay package, which had been valued at over $50 billion, ruling that the board’s approval process was flawed and unfair to shareholders, Reuters reported.Musk, who holds a 13% stake in Tesla, is currently appealing the Delaware court’s decision. His legal team has argued that the judge made “multiple legal errors” in striking down what was then the largest executive compensation plan in corporate history, valued at over $50 billion.Earlier this year, Tesla said a special board committee had been formed to revisit Musk’s compensation, though it did not initially disclose details. The new award — nearly $29 billion based on current market prices — will require Musk to pay $23.34 per share of restricted stock, the same as the exercise price of his voided 2018 package.“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,” the special committee said in its filing.Tesla’s board and Musk have repeatedly stated that increasing his voting power was essential to securing his continued leadership at the company, especially as it undergoes a strategic pivot. Musk has redirected Tesla’s focus away from its long-promised affordable electric vehicle platform, instead pushing toward autonomous robotaxis and humanoid robots — a move that positions Tesla more as a technology and AI-driven company than a traditional automaker.The announcement of Musk’s new compensation plan helped lift Tesla shares, which rose more than 2% in premarket trading
