Tesla has rewarded CEO Elon Musk with a massive, restricted stock package that equates to about $29 billion in shares in an effort to retain him as the head of the company.

It is also a package that aims to reward Musk for leading numerous Tesla projects that have brought billions in value for shareholders over the past seven years. After his 2018 pay package was rejected by a Delaware Chancery Court, Musk started to question his future at the company.

This move, performed by a Special Committee of the Tesla Board, should retain him for several years.

🚨 BREAKING: Tesla has announced that its Board has unanimously approved a recommendation from the Special Committee of the Board to grant Elon an award of restricted stock equal to approximately one-third of the compensation he earned under the 2018 CEO Performance Award.

The… https://t.co/g7RKrTymDL pic.twitter.com/dnvkILlz6H

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 4, 2025

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On Monday morning, Tesla shared on X that it had approved a recommendation from a Special Committee comprised of Board Chair Robyn Denholm and fellow board member Kathleen Wilson-Thompson. It aimed to compensate Musk for his “extraordinary work” and reward him after not receiving “meaningful compensation” for the last eight years.

The post stated that “Tesla is committed to honoring its promises in the 2018 CEO Performance Award and intends to compensate its CEO for his future services commensurate with his contributions to our company and shareholders, we have recommended this award as a first step, ‘good faith’ payment to Elon.”

The award includes the following:

• 96 million restricted shares of stock, subject to Elon paying a purchase price upon meeting a two-year vesting term, to be delivered after receipt of antitrust regulatory approval
• The purchase price will be equal to the split-adjusted exercise price of the stock options awarded to Elon under the 2018 CEO Performance Award ($23.34 per share)
• A requirement that Elon serve continuously in a senior leadership role at Tesla during the two-year vesting term
• A pledging allowance to cover tax payments or the purchase price
• A mandatory holding period of five years from the grant date, except to cover tax payments or the purchase price (with any sales for such purposes to be conducted through an orderly disposition in coordination with Tesla); and
• If the Delaware courts fully reinstate the 2018 CEO Performance Award, this interim award will be forfeited or returned or a portion of the 2018 CEO Performance Award will be forfeited. To put it simply, there cannot be any “double dip.” Elon will not be able to keep this new award in addition to the options he will be awarded under the 2018 CEO Performance Award, should the courts rule in our favor

The board added:

“The Special Committee believes now is the right time to take decisive action to recognize the extraordinary value that Elon created for Tesla shareholders. As such, the Board (with Elon and Kimbal Musk recusing themselves) has unanimously approved a recommendation from the Special Committee of the Board to grant Elon an award of restricted stock equal to approximately one-third of the compensation he earned under the 2018 CEO Performance Award.”

Musk and his brother, Kimbal, are both members of the Tesla board. However, both Musk brothers recused themselves from any voting on this pay package.

The move comes as Musk has hinted on several occasions that he is concerned about his control of the company. His current stake in Tesla stands at about 12.8 percent. He has said a few times he would be more comfortable with a 25 percent stake to protect himself against “activist shareholders.”

He commented on it during the Q2 Earnings Call in late July:

“That is a major concern for me, as I’ve mentioned in the past. I hope that is addressed at the upcoming shareholders’ meeting. But, yeah, it is a big deal. I want to find that I’ve got so little control that I can easily be ousted by activist shareholders after having built this army of humanoid robots. I think my control over Tesla, Inc. should be enough to ensure that it goes in a good direction, but not so much control that I can’t be thrown out if I go crazy.”

The pay package should alleviate any concerns that Tesla would lose Musk as its CEO. Retaining him is perhaps the biggest step in ensuring consistent progress is made on several fronts, including AI and Robotics.

Tesla has some tailwinds that could drive it toward a momentum-filled finish to the year, one Wall Street analyst is predicting.

The tailwinds are joined by some minor risks that have impacted the broader electric vehicle market, but overall, this firm believes Tesla has many catalysts moving forward.

Emmanuel Rosner of Wolfe Research believes that Tesla has plenty of things that could drive the stock upward as we approach the end of the year. With Q3 well underway, Tesla has about five months of catalysts to rely on to erase the roughly 18 percent drop in stock price it has so far this year.

At first glance, it is easy to see the things that would have investors bullish on Tesla for the rest of 2025 and even beyond. Initially, the Robotaxi launch and expansion, which spread to Northern California last night, provide potentially huge tailwinds for the company moving forward.

Tesla expands Robotaxi operation to California’s Bay Area

Along with that, and slightly related, are the advancements in Full Self-Driving that the company has made over the past few months.

This includes the potential launch of the FSD suite in regions like Europe and Australia, where the company believes it will make some progress on regulatory approval in the coming months.

Finally, Wolfe says the company’s Optimus project, which is expected to enter scale production sometime next year, is the third catalyst for Tesla moving forward.

With these three projects in motion, Tesla truly can begin to work on rebounding from a rough 2025 on the market.

Rosner writes:

“This name trades more around the narrative than the numbers. And net-net, we tactically see an improving narrative from here. Tesla has several catalysts coming up w/r/t FSD and Robotaxi, including an expansion of their AV service into several new U.S. markets (San Francisco, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, etc.). The company plans to unlock hands-free/eyes-off autonomy for FSD owners in select U.S. locations by YE25. Supervised FSD in China and Europe is expected to launch over the next ~12 months. And, Optimus is expected to enter scale production in 2026.”

Tesla is currently trading around $310 at around 3:20 p.m. on the East Coast.

Tesla’s Robotaxi platform is the primary focus for the automaker currently, and based on what has been outlined by the company as goals for the project, one firm is saying that the company’s valuation should “far exceed even current levels.”

The Robotaxi is a self-driving ride-hailing service that Tesla plans to implement in current and future vehicle builds. CEO Elon Musk and other executives have said that “the vast majority of the Tesla fleet that we’ve made is capable of being a Robotaxi,” thanks to its development of Over-the-Air software updates that increase the capability of the vehicle with a simple download.

Currently, the Robotaxi platform is only active in a portion of Austin, Texas, but Tesla is expanding to other markets, including California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. California will be the next market to open its doors to the Tesla Robotaxi platform.

🚨 Tesla Robotaxi is close to offering rides in California based on this new message we got in our app.

There is no geofence currently set up in the Bay Area, but we’ll monitor it moving forward. pic.twitter.com/ZrKAqDqQs9

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 26, 2025

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But the name of the game is execution, and that’s what Tesla is aiming for in a timely fashion. If it can come through on all of its current goals, its valuation could explode, and one firm is holding steady on that narrative as Tesla continues to work toward expanding Robotaxi.

On Tuesday, RBC Capital analysts bumped their price target on Tesla shares (NASDAQ: TSLA) to $325 from $319, primarily due to the Robotaxi expansion and its success:

“Should Tesla be successful on all of its goals, its valuation could far exceed even current levels. The Austin Robotaxi launch has been better than many feared, and the company is looking to expand in more cities.”

There are some risks to Tesla’s narrative, but they fall outside the scope of what the company can control. In relation to Robotaxi, regulatory hurdles remain. Some regions may be slower than others to give Tesla the proper licensing to operate in their jurisdiction. This could slow the pace of Robotaxi expansion, bringing some overhang to the story.

Additionally, Tesla is fending off narratives of slowing demand, and the White House’s decision to revoke the $7,500 EV tax credit from consumers could temper sales past Q3.

Nevertheless, Robotaxi is where Tesla’s true value seems to be focused. Successfully launching a driverless ride-sharing platform is where the company is putting all of its eggs, and revolutionizing passenger travel is where the focus lies.

RBC Capital’s note continued:

“Regulatory hurdles remain, however. Further, we expect the end of IRA credits and high levels of used EV inventory to pressure the auto business for the next several quarters.”

The slight price target bump puts RBC Capital’s expectations near where the stock is trading, as it is currently priced at around $320 at 9:54 a.m. on the East Coast.