Musk snaps up $1bn Tesla shares

(Sharecast News) - Billionaire Elon Musk has acquired around $1bn worth of shares in Tesla, it was confirmed on Monday. The co-founder and chief executive of the electric vehicle maker bought around 2.57m shares priced between $371 and $396 each, Tesla confirmed in a brief statement.

The announcement sent shares in the New York-listed firm 9% higher in pre-marketing trading on Monday.

It is the first open market share acquisition Musk has made since February 2020. The entrepreneur and former close associate of Donald Trump has long been open about wanting to retrain a significant holding in Tesla, to help fend off takeovers and activist attacks. He currently owns around 13%.

Musk is widely acknowledged as the driving force behind Tesla. But his relationship with Trump and regularly divisive politics have weighed heavily on the stock.

In May, he quit the US administration and said he would dedicate more time to Tesla.

Earlier this month, the car maker awarded Musk a pay package worth potentially over $1trn over the next decade, based on him meeting a series of extremely strenuous targets.

To qualify for the mammoth payout, Musk would need to boost Tesla's value eight-fold, earnings 24-fold, sell 1m AI robots and another 12m cars, among other targets.

Should he meet all the targets, however, and a hearing in Delaware rules in his favour, Musk's stake would to rise to around 29%.