Elon Musk's Tesla ownership hits 20.5%, worth $120 billion
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in 2016 that the company’s Autopilot technology was safer than a human driver.Pool/Getty Images
Elon Musk’s ownership stake in Tesla has soared to 20.5% and is worth more than $120 billion.
A new SEC filing disclosed the stake, which is higher than the 13% stake reported in May 2023.
Musk recently said he is seeking a 25% stake in Tesla so he can have more influence over the company.
Elon Musk owns a 20.5% stake in Tesla that is worth just over $120 billion, according to a filing made with the SEC on Wednesday.
The 20.5% stake is a sizable increase from Musk’s 13% stake in Tesla that was reported in May 2023, but slightly below the 22% stake Musk held before he started to sell stock to fund his $44 billion purchase of Twitter.
According to the filing, Musk’s stake is comprised of 411.06 million shares of Tesla common stock, as well as options to purchase 303.96 million shares that are exercisable within 60 days of December 31.
The SEC filing shows that Musk is not far off from reaching the 25% stake he desires, as he wishes to have more influence over the company to keep him incentivized to work on various projects underneath the Tesla brand, such as robotics and artificial intelligence.
“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 tweeted last month. “Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla.”
Musk’s massive ownership stake in Tesla has in part been driven by his 2018 compensation package, which has since faced challenges in court. The $55 billion pay package awarded Musk tranches of Tesla stock if he hit certain milestones in growing Tesla’s market capitalization.
Musk’s massive stake in Tesla, combined with his ownership stakes in SpaceX and X, make him the richest person in the world, with a net worth of just over $200 billion, according to data from Bloomberg.
Tesla stock rose 2.3% in Thursday morning trades.
