Tesla made him the richest man – now Elon Musk wants an even bigger payday

Elon Musk’s existing equity package at the electric car manufacturer Tesla has already secured his status as the wealthiest person globally, with his fortune reaching an impressive $230 billion as of this Wednesday.

However, Musk is now seeking an additional share package, amounting to $80 million, from the Supervisory Board. This request is specifically tied to his contributions to the development of AI systems. Musk has expressed discomfort with the idea of Tesla becoming a market leader in AI and robotics without him having at least 25% voting control.

On Monday, Musk took to the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to state that unless he receives stock in Tesla that grants him sufficient influence without making him immune to overturning, he would prefer to explore building products outside of the electric vehicle manufacturer.

While Musk has been a vocal proponent of Tesla’s partially automated “full self-driving” software and humanoid robot prototypes, the company predominantly generates revenue from its automotive business. Some analysts view Tesla’s technologies, including the Dojo supercomputer for training AI models, as significant contributors to the EV maker’s valuation. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas suggested in September that Dojo could potentially increase Tesla’s market value by nearly $600 billion.

Following Musk’s comments, Tesla’s shares experienced a roughly 2% decline in pre-market trading on Tuesday. Musk, who currently owns about 13% of Tesla stock, had sold billions of dollars in shares in 2022 to finance his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

In another X post, Musk expressed openness to a dual-class share structure to attain the 25% voting control goal. However, he was informed that this was deemed impossible after Tesla’s initial public offering.