Elon Musk Moves Closer to Becoming First Ever Trillionaire with Reinstated Tesla Stock Options
The Delaware Supreme Court has reinstated Elon Musk's 2018 Tesla stock options, which are worth $139 billion (£103 billion). This reversal follows a previous lower court ruling in 2024 that had struck down the package as unfathomable. The state supreme court found that rescinding the pay left Musk uncompensated and ruled the lower court's decision improper.
Musk's net worth, estimated by Forbes at $749 billion (£559 billion) as of Friday, has surpassed $700 billion, making him the world's richest man and approximately $500 billion (£373 billion) ahead of Larry Page. If Musk exercises all 2018 stock options, his stake in Tesla would increase from about 12.4% to approximately 18.1% of an expanded share base.
The original 2018 stock package included shares valued at about $56 billion (£41 billion) at the time. The approval process faced criticism; Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick found that Tesla directors were conflicted and that key facts were concealed when the plan was approved.
In November 2025, Tesla shareholders approved a pay plan for Musk potentially worth up to $1 trillion, with 75% of shareholders voting in favor. This pay plan requires Musk to meet five ambitious milestones over a decade: producing 20 million cars, building 1 million robots, securing 10 million subscriptions to Tesla's self-driving service, deploying 1 million self-driving robotaxis, and generating up to $400 billion in core profits.
Achieving all these milestones could grant Musk more than 400 million extra shares, possibly worth about $1 trillion if Tesla reaches the target market value. At the time of this approval, Tesla was valued at around $1.51 trillion.
