Elon Musk Set To Receive $23 Billion Bonus

Elon Musk is set to receive a huge bonus worth more than $23 billion (£18 billion) after Tesla recorded momentous quarterly profits. 

Despite not taking home a salary for his role as CEO, Musk will receive three tranches of shares thanks to his compensation agreement with the electric car manufacturer. 

The performance-related stock awards will need to be signed off by Tesla’s board of directors, but are said to be worth an eye-watering $7.7 billion each. 

The Tesla boss has an estimated personal fortune of $263 billion according to Forbes, making him the richest man in the world. However, much of his fortune is tied up in his stakes in both Tesla and SpaceX. 

After the increased demand for electric vehicles in recent years, it's no surprise Tesla has become the world’s most highly valued carmaker. 

Alamy

The car manufacturer far surpassed predictions on Wall Street last night (20 April), after enjoying an 81 percent increase in revenue in the first quarter. 

Tesla also recorded its highest-ever profits, reporting revenue of $18.76 billion and adjusted earnings of $5.02 billion. 

The company, which has been led by Musk since 2008, now has a market value of more than $1 trillion. 

The news comes after Musk boldly made a bid for Twitter last week. 

The world’s richest man recently became the social media firm's largest single stakeholder with a 9.2 percent stake. 

Clearly not satisfied with his share, Musk offered to buy the whole company for a whopping $41.39 billion (£31bn). 

Musk's offer stands at $54.20 (£41) per share, marking a 38 percent premium to Twitter's closing price on 1 April - the last trading day before his stake was publicly disclosed. 

Alamy

And it appears Twitter is taking the bid seriously, as it responded to the offer stating it will not rule anything out. 

In a statement shared Thursday, 14 April, the company said: "Twitter, Inc today confirmed it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Elon Musk to acquire all of the Company’s outstanding common stock for $54.20 per share in cash. 

"The Twitter Board of Directors will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and all Twitter stockholders," it continued. 

However, shares in Tesla took a fall after Musk’s bid for Twitter, as analysts suggested he may reduce his stake in the car manufacturer in order to help him finance the deal. 

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]