Tesla‘s board has set up a special committee to review Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer’s compensation package. The review could result in a new stock options package, according to a Financial Times report. The two-member committee comprises Tesla board Chair Robyn Denholm and independent board member Kathleen Wilson-Thompson.
The committee will consider alternative ways to compensate Musk for his past work if Tesla’s 2018 pay package is not reinstated through a court appeal. Any new stock options would depend on the company meeting financial, operational, and share price targets. This development comes as Tesla is at a turning point, with Musk shifting focus from a promised affordable EV platform to robotaxis and humanoid robots, positioning the company more as an AI and robotics firm than a traditional automaker.
Musk, Tesla’s largest shareholder with a 13% stake, kicked off an appeal in March to try to restore his $56 billion payday from Tesla. He claimed a lower court judge made multiple legal errors in rescinding the record compensation. “Shareholders should control company votes, not judges,” Musk wrote on X after a judge ruled that Tesla boss Elon Musk is still not entitled to receive the $56 billion compensation package despite shareholders approving the pay deal.
Denholm denied a Wall Street Journal report that said board members had reached out to several executive search firms to find a replacement for Musk. If Tesla’s board is forced to reissue Musk’s pay package, he could owe as much as $73.5 billion in tax, according to tax expert Schuyler M. Moore. This would be the largest federal tax bill in history.