Elon Musk converts 300 million Tesla options into voting shares

Glonhui June 18th｜Elon Musk converted part of his stock options into shares that carry immediate voting rights but cannot be sold until 2028, thereby increasing his voting power in Tesla to 20%. Securities filings show that shortly after SpaceX completed its initial public offering (IPO) last week, Musk fulfilled an agreement reached with Tesla in April this year by converting around 300 million unexercised options from his 2018 compensation package. This unusual transaction means Musk did not thereby acquire additional ordinary Tesla shares. Instead, he obtained restricted stock that will vest on January 19, 2028, which is also the original expiration date of these options. However, a filing published on Wednesday indicates that these instruments “carry voting rights exercisable by Musk.” He surrendered 17.5 million shares to cover the approximately $7.1 billion in option exercise costs. After the transaction, Musk holds about 700 million Tesla shares, including those held through trusts. In a securities disclosure, he stated that this represents approximately 19.9% of currently outstanding shares.