Stock & Awe: Tesla Booms as Musk Makes New Demands
Tesla stock is climbing once again, but behind the rally lies a fierce legal battle, boardroom drama, and Elon Musk’s high-stakes demand for control.

Tesla’s stock continues to charge ahead, accelerating nearly 5% on Tuesday and pushing its five-day rally past the 20% mark. The catalyst? Reports from the Financial Times that Tesla’s board is actively drafting a new pay package for CEO Elon Musk—a saga that’s already become one of the most divisive and high-stakes compensation dramas in corporate history.
According to sources, a special committee consisting of Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm and board member Kathleen Wilson-Thompson is exploring how to appropriately compensate Musk amid legal chaos and shareholder backlash. The committee’s options reportedly include a fresh package of stock options or “alternative” methods of retroactive compensation, should the appeal of Musk’s original $56 billion pay plan—struck down by a Delaware court—fail to pass muster.
Musk’s original 2018 package, once the largest in corporate history, became the center of legal and investor fury after a Delaware judge ruled it was approved without sufficient oversight, transparency, or genuine negotiation. The court blasted Tesla’s board for rubber-stamping the plan, leaving shareholders fuming. And while Tesla investors reapproved the package in June 2024—following the company’s reincorporation in Texas—the Delaware judge didn’t budge, rejecting the attempt to resurrect the deal.
