Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is coming close to earning the first $US346 million tranche of options in a record-breaking pay package, after the electric vehicle maker's stock more than doubled in the last three months.
Musk receives no salary or cash bonus, only options that vest based on Tesla's market cap and milestones for growth. Musk has transformed Tesla from a niche car maker with production problems into the global leader in electric vehicles, with US and Chinese factories. So far it has stayed ahead of more established rivals including BMW and Volkswagen .
Tesla was valued at about $US53 billion when shareholders approved the pay package in January 2018 and faced a cash crunch, production delays and increasing competition from rivals. It was viewed as massively ambitious because it implied the company's value could grow as much as ten-fold in 10 years.