The new milestone makes Tesla the first US carmaker worth more than US$100 billion
Since its announcement of a surprise third-quarter profit and a new factory in China, Tesla’s shares have more than doubled over the past three months. And it shows no sign of stopping, evident from its surge on Wednesday in which its market value topped US$100 billion for the first time, surpassing that of General Motors and Ford Motor combined.
If the automaker’s market value remain at the uS$100 billion level for a one-month and a six-month average period, CEO Elon Musk will have the option to buy about 1.7 billion shares at roughly US$350 each—a pay award worth about US$346 million.
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While it’s a huge bonus, it would only represent 1% of Musk’s current net worth of about US$32 billion, according to Forbes, in which about half of it composed of Tesla shares. Currently, Musk owns a fifth of the company, or 32 billion shares, and while Tesla does not pay Musk a salary or a bonus, a compensation plan for him was authorised by Tesla’s board and shareholders in 2018, which allows him to earn options worth an estimated US$55 billion over the next decade.
Tesla is set to report fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes on 29 January.
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