It’s time for Tesla CEO to pay back to shareholders: Opinion

After half a decade, Tesla CEO Elon Musk won his performance-based stock option award and shareholders are the ones who made this happen.

In 2018, the Tesla board announced around $56 billion in pay package for Musk. However, it was challenged by a shareholder blaming the board for being partial in the process. Eventually, a Delaware court judge slashed the package and stopped Musk from getting such a benefit until the shareholders decided his fate.

There were 12 proposals brought to the agenda for voting including five from Tesla directors. These proposals were passed including the company’s Texas cooperation and Musk’s performance package.

The ratio of “For vote” shows shareholders’ trust in Musk’s leadership. Why not? Tesla’s progress is a result of its CEO’s decision. He created new products that made the company a leader in the EV market.

But for the last two years, Tesla shareholders have been worrying about stock more than ever. The situation remained the same in 2023 but Musk returned to consciousness early this year only prior to the shareholder’s meeting.

Musk now has six companies including Tesla, X (Twitter), SpaceX, xAI, The Boring Company, and Neuralink. Among these, X and xAI accounted for most of his time in 2023, the rest went to SpaceX and Tesla.

During the 2024 shareholders meeting, Musk shared updates on Tesla products including Robotics, AI, and plans for the future. Despite these optimistic approaches, Tesla still makes most of its revenue from the EV business.

The company sold 2.8 million vehicles, more than any car maker in the market but expecting a slow 2024. Above all, Tesla’s share is seeing a max decline compared to June 2022.

Amid these scenarios, Tesla shareholders showed that their belief is still intact in Musk’s leadership. And it could be the best time for him to prove them right by working on things that are true to their expectations.