Elon Musk Buys $1 Billion in Tesla Shares as Company Defends $1 Trillion Pay Plan

Elon Musk purchased roughly $1 billion of Tesla stock as the electric-vehicle maker defended a proposed compensation package that could pay the chief executive as much as $1 trillion over the next decade if performance targets are achieved.

Regulatory filings published Monday showed Musk acquired about 2.57 million Tesla shares at prices between $371 and $396 apiece. The buying was viewed by investors as a vote of confidence and helped lift Tesla shares as much as 8.8% in early U.S. trading on Monday.

The filings were released as Tesla’s chair, Robyn Denholm, publicly defended the company’s compensation plan for Musk. Denholm described Musk as a "generational leader" and said Tesla’s long-term success depends on his continued leadership. The pay arrangement, which the board has proposed, is structured around aggressive operational and market-share targets and could pay out over a ten-year period if those milestones are met.

The proposed package has drawn intense scrutiny from investors, public figures and critics of large executive pay awards. Pope Leo weighed in on the broader debate about executive compensation, noting growing disparities between chief executives and rank-and-file staff and warning against excessive concentration of income. "What does that mean, and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble," the pope said, citing Musk as a potential future trillionaire.

The new share purchases coincided with a rebound in Musk’s personal net worth. Reports this week said Musk reclaimed the position of the world’s richest person after a brief period in which Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison overtook him. The uplift in Tesla’s stock has increased the market value of Musk’s holdings.

Tesla has faced a mix of headwinds and competition in 2025. The company has confronted complaints tied to the chief executive’s public and political activities earlier in the year, which some analysts and company statements said weighed on sales in certain markets. Tesla also faces intensified competition from established and emerging automakers in China and elsewhere as the global market for electric vehicles expands.

Musk’s business portfolio extends beyond Tesla and includes ownership of the social platform X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX, xAI, The Boring Company and Neuralink. Company and regulatory filings show periodic share transactions by Musk as he manages holdings across those interests.

Investors, proxy advisory firms and corporate governance groups are expected to scrutinize the proposed compensation plan as it moves through whatever shareholder-approval process Tesla requires. The board has not released a full timeline for shareholder consideration, and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for further comment outside the regulatory filing disclosures.

The share purchases and the debate over executive pay arrive as markets and policymakers closely watch the interplay between corporate governance, CEO incentives and broader questions about income inequality and executive accountability. Any approval of a plan of the scale proposed would represent one of the largest executive awards in corporate history and is likely to fuel ongoing debates among investors, regulators and the public.

Monday’s filings specified the transactions and prices paid but did not alter the terms of the proposed pay package. Tesla shareholders and market analysts will be watching subsequent proxy filings and board disclosures for additional detail on how performance metrics are defined, how payouts would be triggered and what governance safeguards would apply.