Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) executed what Wedbush’s Dan Ives called “a must” this morning as it finalized a new pay package for its CEO Elon Musk.

The move helped give Musk his first meaningful compensation at Tesla since 2017, when the company offered a pay package that was based on performance and proven growth. That package was approved by shareholders on two separate occasions, but was denied to Musk both times by the Delaware Chancery Court.

On Monday, Tesla announced on X that it had created a new package that would give 96 million shares of restricted stock to Musk to compensate him for the “immense value generated for Tesla and all our shareholders.”

🚨 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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The details of the pay package are designed to retain Musk, who has voiced some concerns about his control of Tesla, as “activist shareholders” have used lawsuits to disrupt the previously approved package.

You can read all the details of it here:

Tesla rewards CEO Elon Musk with massive, restricted stock package

Ives says Musk’s retention is ‘a must’

Ives said in a note to investors on Monday that with the raging AI talent war that Tesla made a smart move by doing what it could to retain Musk.

He wrote:

“With the AI talent war now fully underway across Big Tech, we believe this was a strategic move to keep TSLA’s top asset, Musk, would stay focused at the company with his priority being to bolster the company’s growth strategy over the coming years. With this interim award increasing Musk’s voting rights upon this grant, which Musk honed in on and mentioned was increasingly important to incentivize him to stay focused on the matters at hand, this was a strategic move by the Board to solidify Musk as CEO of Tesla over the coming years with this framework for Musk’s pay package and greater voting control removing a major overhang on the story.”

He went on to say:

“While the groundwork is now in place for the next few years, it will be critical for the Tesla Board of Directors to get this long-term compensation strategy in place prior to the company’s November 6th shareholder meeting which would address the elephant in the room and remove a significant overhang on the stock.”

Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and its $500 price target on the stock.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed his ideal timeline for what would likely be the most insane self-driving feature: the ability for drivers to play video games at the wheel.

There are a handful of videos out there of drivers already performing this task. Nobody using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite should perform these activities, as the company maintains the system is not fully autonomous.

Drivers are responsible for the vehicle and should be prepared to take over.

Tesla has put a lot of faith in its development of Full Self-Driving and has made tremendous strides over the past few years. Capabilities have gotten more refined and accurate through various methods, including data collection and hardware improvements.

Tesla kicks Robotaxi geofence expansion into high gear in Austin

It has gotten so good that Tesla launched a Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas, on June 22. Passengers can hop in the back of a Model Y and will be transported around the city in a confined geofence that is about 90 square miles in size. There is nobody in the driver’s seat, but there is a Safety Monitor in the passenger’s seat.

Tesla launched a similar experience in California’s Bay Area last week, but the company has placed the Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat for that region for the time being.

Eventually, Tesla will get to a point where no monitor is needed, and the vehicles will be able to drive themselves. Many believe that it is a few years away, but Musk believes Tesla could achieve it very soon.

After a video of someone playing Grand Theft Auto in their Cybertruck while operating Full Self-Driving was shared on the social media platform X, Musk said this capability would be available in “probably 3 to 6 months, depending on regulatory approval in your city and state.”

Probably 3 to 6 months, depending on regulatory approval in your city and state

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 3, 2025

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It is important to remember that Musk has been very optimistic regarding autonomy timelines with Tesla projects. We heard for many years that the company would have self-driving vehicles “by the end of the year,” and those projects did not come to fruition.

While there was progress, there were no fully autonomous vehicles or software versions for customers.

With that being said, Tesla has made tremendous strides in its quest for autonomous vehicles this year, and launching a Robotaxi platform was a huge step in the right direction.

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.