Tesla’s Elon Musk May Have Boldest Pay Plan in Corporate History<br />If Mr. Musk were somehow to increase the value of Tesla to $650 billion — a figure many experts would contend is laughably impossible<br />and would make Tesla one of the five largest companies in the United States, based on current valuations — his stock award could be worth as much as $55 billion (assuming the company does not issue any more shares over the next decade, which is unrealistic).<br />Tesla has set a dozen targets, each $50 billion more than the next, starting at $100 billion, then $150 billion, then $200 billion<br />and so on, all the way to a market value of $650 billion.<br />The company is planning to announce on Tuesday Mr. Musk’s new compensation plan,<br />and it is perhaps the most radical in corporate history: Mr. Musk will be paid only if he reaches a series of jaw-dropping milestones based on the company’s market value and operations.<br />Mr. Musk insists that the loans are such a small portion of his stake in the company<br />that even if Tesla shares were to fall precipitously, it would not impact him or the company.<br />Mr. Musk’s new compensation plan is similar to the previous one put in place when the company was worth $3.2 billion in 2012.<br />Asked how he thinks shareholders should feel about Mr. Musk’s new pay package, Ira Ehrenpreis, chairman of Tesla’s compensation committee,<br />told me, “It’s heads you win, tails you don’t lose,” meaning if Mr. Musk is gaining billions then shareholders are winning, too.
