Musk Expected to Secure Stock Options 4 Times This Year... "Getting Richer"

43 Trillion Won Based on Current Stock Price

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] Elon Musk, CEO of the American electric vehicle company Tesla, is expected to receive stock options worth billions of dollars.

According to CNN Business on the 25th (local time), Musk is expected to qualify for 4 out of the remaining 5 stock options from the 12 granted under the 2018 compensation plan within this year. CNN Business also predicted that the last remaining stock option will be available early next year when the Q4 performance is confirmed.

In 2018, Tesla established a compensation plan that grants Musk 110 million shares of stock options evenly over 12 tranches if various financial and market capitalization targets are met. Musk receives the right to purchase 8.4 million shares at $70.01 per share each time one of the 12 targets is achieved. Accordingly, Musk exercised 59 million stock options over 7 occasions by last year.

Tesla's closing price on the 24th was $930 per share, and if Musk exercises all 5 remaining stock options, he will realize a profit of approximately $36.3 billion (about 43.4765 trillion KRW).

However, CNN Business forecasts that due to tax issues, Musk will likely wait until the stock option exercise deadline in 2027 to exercise the remaining stock options, even after qualifying for them.

Previously, Musk sold 15.6 million Tesla shares last year to cover taxes arising from exercising stock options. Musk currently does not receive a salary or cash bonuses from Tesla. According to Forbes, Musk's net worth is approximately $241 billion (about 288.6457 trillion KRW).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.