Tesla has canceled the $29 billion “interim” pay package awarded to CEO Elon Musk last year, following the Delaware Supreme Court’s recent decision to reinstate his original $56 billion compensation from 2018. The interim package, given in August 2025, was a precaution in case the court rejected Musk’s appeal. Tesla had assured investors the interim package would be nullified upon a favorable ruling for Musk, stating there would be no “double dip.”
Tesla confirmed in its quarterly SEC filing that it annulled the interim award on April 21, with the board voting without Musk or his brother Kimbal’s participation. The action aligns with the principle against “double dipping” to prevent Musk from gaining extra benefits from the 2018 CEO Performance Award.
Musk’s 2018 $56 billion package faced a court challenge from a shareholder, accusing Musk of self-dealing and failing to properly inform shareholders. The case lasted years in Delaware’s Chancery Court, culminating in a 2024 ruling against Musk. Tesla appealed and campaigned to support Musk, including a shareholder “re-vote,” and Musk had hinted at leaving Tesla for AI development. To counter these pressures, Tesla crafted a $29 billion interim package and began working on a prospective $1 trillion package for Musk.
Revoking the interim award doesn’t affect Musk’s $1 trillion potential package, which requires reaching several milestones, like delivering 20 million vehicles, deploying a million robots and robotaxis, and raising Tesla’s valuation to over $8 trillion in 10 years.
In the quarterly filing, Tesla mentioned it is assessing Musk’s potential to achieve these benchmarks. It has an “unrecognized stock-based compensation expense” of $9.97 billion for milestones deemed likely to be reached, while expenses between $105.82 billion to $120.37 billion are unrecognized for milestones considered unlikely, without specifying which ones.
Musk has ten years for the trillion-dollar package goals, which include attenuated versions of his past promises. Tesla’s filing suggests some skepticism about Musk’s ability to deliver on all objectives.
The filing also reveals that Tesla’s board has imposed restrictions on Musk’s sale of shares from the restored 2018 package to limit negative impacts from significant sales. These align with the $1 trillion package terms, requiring Musk to remain as CEO or a product development executive through 2028 and hold shares for five years.