Elon Musk Spends $1B on Tesla Shares Amid Defence of Mega Pay Package

TradingKey - After a 14% surge over the last two trading sessions, news that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has doubled down on his own company sent Tesla shares soaring another 8% in pre-market trading — putting the stock on track for its highest level since February.

According to regulatory filings released on Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased approximately 2.57 million shares of Tesla last week at prices ranging from $371 to $396 per share, amounting to a total investment of around $1 billion.

The purchase comes as Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm defends the board’s early-September proposal to award Musk a $1 trillion pay package over ten years. To retain Musk as Tesla’s leader and drive future innovation in AI and robotics, the board is offering what would be the largest executive pay package in U.S. corporate history.

Ahead of a key shareholder vote on November 6, Denholm recently stood firm in support of Musk’s leadership, stating that there is no one else who can lead this company forward. What Elon does cannot be done by anyone else.

The Tesla board outlined several potential negative consequences if Musk were to leave, including the loss his singular talent and strategic vision,  an exodus of critical staff and a drop in the share price. 

On Monday, Tesla shares rose over 8% in pre-market trading, hovering near $430. After last week’s strong rally, the stock’s year-to-date loss has narrowed from being halved earlier this year to under 2%.