By Tolu Ajiboye
Updated
3 min read
Elon Musk is now one step closer to receiving the totality of his $55 billion award from Tesla, as contained in his 2018 agreement with the company.
As the rest of the world loses huge chunks of its wealth to the coronavirus pandemic, Elon Musk is telling a completely different story. Electric automaker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) now has a market capitalization at the minimum value required for CEO Elon Musk to access part of his mega payout award from Tesla.
Tesla’s average monthly market cap for a period of six months has exceeded $100 billion. This feat is the last achievement Tesla requires for Elon Musk to receive his award. Now, Musk can access 1.69 million Tesla stock options if he chooses to, at an exercise price of $350.02 per share. With Tesla stock (TSLA) over $768 before taxes, the options are now worth $706 million.
TSLA is easily one of 2020 most bullish stocks. It had a very impressive bull run earlier this year, consistently hitting new highs. However, like the rest of the market, it was significantly hampered by the crash caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Last Friday, TSLA lost over 10% on the day, after Elon Musk tweeted that “Tesla stock price is too high.” By Monday, Tesla had rebounded and closed up 8.54% to $761.19.
Back in 2018, Elon Musk entered an agreement with the Tesla board of directors that could award him 20 million stock options in total. The deal, still regarded as the largest ever between a company’s board and its CEO, was divided into 12 tranches. Musk has already hit three others before now. They include $100 billion in average market cap in a 30-day period, $20 billion revenue, and $1.5 billion in earnings before adjustments.
According to Forbes, Elon Musk is currently worth $38.9 billion and is the 31st richest person in the world. The CEO, however, cannot dispose of his stock award for at least five years.
Canadian singer Grimes has announced her newborn son with Elon Musk. The baby’s name X Æ A-12 has made the rounds on the internet, since the announcement.
In a recent tweet, Grimes has explained the name and how they put it together. The name represents a few things the couple has in common, including love for aircrafts and artificial intelligence.
•X, the unknown variable ⚔️
•Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence)
•A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent 🤍
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(A=Archangel, my favorite song)
(⚔️🐁 metal rat)— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) May 6, 2020
Musk also made news with some of his other tweets. In addition to his comment about Tesla stock, he also asked the government to remove the restrictions on movement. Perhaps the most interesting is another tweet where he announced he would sell “almost all physical possessions” and “will own no house.”
While many seemed to dismiss the tweet, it would seem that Musk was serious. The CEO has already put up two of his houses for sale. Both houses are in Los Angeles’ Bel-Air neighbourhood, and are currently on real estate website, Zillow.com. One of the houses costs $9.5 million and used to belong to popular actor Gene Wilder. The other house is listed for $30 million.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge. When he's not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
