Elon Musk purchases nearly $1bn in Tesla stock

Tesla owner Elon Musk bought about $1 billion worth of the company’s shares last week, according to a regulatory filing, sending Tesla’s stock up more than 8% in pre-market trading on Monday.

Musk acquired about 2.57 million shares at prices between $371 and $396, the filing showed. The move came as Tesla chair Robyn Denholm defended the board’s decision to offer Musk a $1 trillion pay package if he meets a series of targets over the next decade.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Denholm described Musk as a “generational leader” and said the best way to “optimise the future of Tesla” was to keep him in charge. Musk is the world’s richest person, with an estimated fortune of $419 billion. This is his first open-market purchase of Tesla shares since he bought about $10 million worth in February 2020.

Musk has said he wants to own at least 20% of Tesla’s shares to protect the company from activist investors or a takeover, as it develops artificial intelligence technology and robots. 

Under the proposed new pay deal, he would receive 12% of Tesla’s shares if he can raise its valuation to $8.5 trillion, grow earnings 24-fold and boost sales of cars and robots over the next decade.

A Delaware judge struck down Musk’s 2018 pay deal earlier this year, but Tesla gave him an interim package last month that lifted his stake from 13% to 16%. If the 2025 plan goes ahead and Tesla wins its appeal in Delaware, Musk’s ownership could rise to about 29%.

Musk has faced criticism this year over political views some say have hurt Tesla’s brand. In May, he left his post in US President Donald Trump’s administration, where he led the Department of Government Efficiency, saying he would focus more on Tesla.

Tesla’s shares have fallen 2% this year after rallying following Trump’s election in 2024, while the S&P 500 is up 12% over the same period. 

(Financial Times)

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