Elon Musk buys $1 billion worth of Tesla shares, a sign that he’s sticking around

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — Elon Musk bought $1 billion worth of Tesla shares on Friday, according to a regulatory filing he made early Monday.

The purchase represents a rare action – by Musk or any other CEO. Few business leaders use their own money to buy their company’s stock without exercising of options, which allows them to purchase shares at a fraction of their market price.

Tesla investors viewed Musk’s stock purchase as both a vote of confidence in the company and a further commitment by Musk to stay at Tesla. The news lifted shares of Tesla (TSLA) 7% at the market open Monday.

“It’s a huge vote of confidence from Musk and the bulls love seeing this,” said Dan Ives, tech analyst with Wedbush Securities and one of the bigger fans of Tesla on Wall Street. “It sends a positive signal after a very tumultuous year for Musk and Tesla shareholders.”

That Musk could purchase $1 billion in stock mostly as a symbolic gesture is another indication of his massive wealth. The cost is affordable for the planet’s richest person. In fact, the rise in the stock’s value in early trading Monday added about $8.6 billion to his net worth, more than covering the cost.

A roller coaster year for Tesla shares

Shares of Tesla nearly doubled after the election, as investors bet that Musk’s close ties to then President-elect Donald Trump would help the company’s financial outlook, particularly its plans to focus on self-driving cars and develop a fleet of robotaxis.

But after reaching a record high in mid-December, shares started to slide sharply. By April, the stock had lost all of its post-election gains and was sharply lower for the year.

As Musk became active in running the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, the company started facing backlash from those who opposed Trump and his agenda. Tesla posted its largest sales drops in history in the first and second quarter, and profits plunged along with it.

Beyond any political backlash hurting sales, the company is also facing increased competition from the EV offerings of other automakers, particularly in China. Chinese automaker BYD is set to eclipse Tesla as the world’s largest maker of EVs despite its cars not being available in the US market.

Tesla and other automakers face the end of a $7,500 tax credit for US buyers of EVs at the end of this month. While that is expected to lift third quarter Tesla sales, the EV company is likely to see a sharp drop for rest of the year.

And Musk had a falling out with Trump as he left his role in the administration and returned to Tesla.

However, Tesla shares have climbed off their lows from earlier this year. Musk and Tesla’s fans on Wall Street stress that the future value of company is tied to its self-driving technology and robotaxi plans. If the gains hold during trading Monday, the stock will be in positive territory for the year, albeit far behind the gains for the broader market.

Pay package could be worth $1 trillion

Last week, Tesla proposed a new pay package for Musk that could grant him additional stock options that could be worth $1 trillion should Tesla achieve certain sales and valuation milestones.

However, Musk will get no additional shares and no income from Tesla unless its stock increases by more than 50% to a market cap of $2 trillion. Its currently valued at $1.3 trillion. Last week, shares of Tesla increased 13% after the pay package was unveiled.

Tesla’s board, in its proxy statement last week, spoke of the importance of keeping Musk focused on Tesla going forward. He is also CEO of several other companies, including rocket company SpaceX and artificial intelligence company xAI, which owns the social media platform X he purchased for $44 billion in 2022. In addition to his many business interests, Musk remains active in politics, despite his falling out with Trump. He has announced plans to form a third political party, but details remain murky.

Musk continues to have many critics not only for his politics and divisive social media posts, but also his massive wealth and the influence it has bought him. Pope Leo XIV, in his first extensive interview since becoming the first American pontiff, cited massive CEO pay, specifically Musk and his proposed pay package, as a sign of the income inequality that he said is behind the polarization of society.

“What does that mean and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble,” he said in an interview Sunday with Elise Allen, senior correspondent at Catholic news site Crux.

Monday’s stock purchase brought an additional 2.6 million Tesla shares into Musk’s portfolio. But it barely increased his stake in the company – his holdings of Tesla shares rose by less than 1%.

Musk has purchased blocks of Tesla shares on the open market in the past, but most came from exercising his stock options that he received as compensation. The 413 million shares of Tesla he now owns represents 12.8% of the company’s shares.

But Musk has said he wants to control at least 25% of the company. He has threatened to shift some of his AI efforts away from Tesla to xAI without more control.

“I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned,” Musk wrote in a post on X in January 2024. “Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting and context.

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