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Musk’s pay under a SpaceX-Tesla merger: voting control, but no $1 trillion payday​

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Special committees at SpaceX and Tesla are actively discussing a combination of the two trillion-dollar companies. Rather than working toward demanding Tesla benchmarks like deploying humanoid robots and robotaxis to earn a 29 percent stake, Musk could take a shortcut to corporate control. Under an acquisition structure led by SpaceX, existing multi-vote shares would immediately secure him majority authority. This strategic maneuver would let Musk gain corporate dominance while receiving only a fraction of his previously approved $1 trillion Tesla equity award.

Key points

  • A potential merger delivers Musk majority corporate governance without requiring him to m…: A potential merger delivers Musk majority corporate governance without requiring him to meet ambitious operational goals.
  • Special classes of SpaceX stock with 10 times standard voting power would anchor his cont…: Special classes of SpaceX stock with 10 times standard voting power would anchor his control in the unified entity.
  • The transaction would replace a massive $1 trillion shareholder-approved pay package with…: The transaction would replace a massive $1 trillion shareholder-approved pay package with direct, upfront voting control.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Musk’s pay under a SpaceX-Tesla merger: voting control, but no $1 trillion payday

Nov 3 : Elon Musk’s recent super-sized pay packages at SpaceX and Tesla were centered on some eye-popping goals: creating a 1 million-person human colony on Mars, putting a million robotaxis on the road and selling a million humanoid robots.

A merger combining Musk’s trillion-dollar rocket and electric vehicle firms would mean he might not ever need to meet those lofty targets to achieve his ultimate goal: control over his corporate empire.

Musk said on a SpaceX earnings call last month that both companies' boards had formed special committees to discuss a potential merger. A deal could give him the voting control at Tesla that he has said he wants, without his having to hit any of the milestones in his pay plan.

As for Musk’s compensation, a merger initially would likely award him only a sliver of the $1 trillion in stock from last year’s widely discussed Tesla pay package, according to a Reuters review of the plan and six executive-compensation experts. SpaceX’s board could also…

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