Tesla Stock Heads For Worst Week In Months — Musk Loses 96M Shares As ‘No Double Dip’ Rule Scraps Interim Pay

• CEO Elon Musk forfeited 96 million restricted Tesla shares after the company canceled a $29 billion interim compensation award.
• The forfeiture was triggered by the “no double dip” principle, which prevents Musk from receiving two compensation structures.
• The board approved cancellation of the interim award on Tuesday, with Elon Musk and director Kimbal Musk excluded from the vote.

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) are tracking their worst weekly performance in nearly four months as CEO Elon Musk forfeited 96 million shares after the EV maker canceled a $29 billion interim compensation award following the restoration of his 2018 pay package.

TSLA stock has declined about 7% so far this week after its first-quarter (Q1) results marked a massive jump in capex plans driven by higher investments in AI, robotics, and manufacturing.

Why Musk Lost 96M Shares In Tesla Pay Shake-Up

A fresh filing on Thursday showed that Musk forfeited 96 million restricted Tesla shares that had been granted under the company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan, following a “Tornetta Decision Event.”

The forfeiture comes from Tesla’s earlier decision to revoke a $29 billion interim compensation award approved in August 2025 as a contingency measure, while Musk appealed the cancellation of his original 2018 CEO pay package. Tesla had previously told investors that the interim award would be voided if the earlier compensation plan were restored.

“These actions are consistent with the ‘no double dip’ principle,” the company said in its latest quarterly filing, referring to the policy preventing Musk from retaining both compensation structures simultaneously.

Tesla Appeal Win Restores 2018 CEO Pay Package

Tesla granted Musk a $56 billion performance-based compensation package in 2018, which was later struck down by the Delaware Court of Chancery after a shareholder lawsuit challenged the approval process.

The company appealed the decision and conducted a shareholder re-vote on the package. The Delaware Supreme Court later reinstated the award, prompting Tesla to formally cancel the interim compensation structure that had been a backup. The company also confirmed that its board approved the revocation of the interim award on Tuesday, with Musk and director Kimbal Musk excluded from the vote.

Musk’s Stake At 20% After Scrapping Interim Award 

A separate ownership disclosure showed that Musk currently holds 717.1 million Tesla shares, representing 20% of the company after excluding forfeited interim award shares. 

The filing also said Musk’s stake excludes 423.7 million shares tied to Tesla’s 2025 CEO Performance Award. The award is structured into 12 tranches that vest only after certain conditions are met, with vesting timelines extending as far as 2035. 

However, Tesla said the cancellation of the interim award does not affect Musk’s newer 2025 CEO Performance Award, which shareholders approved at the company’s annual meeting last year and could be worth up to $1 trillion if the milestones are achieved over ten years. It has also identified $9.97 billion in stock-based compensation expense tied to milestones considered probable of achievement, compared with between $105.82 billion and $120.37 billion tied to milestones considered not probable of achievement.

The targets in the plan include large-scale expansion of vehicle production, deployment of robotaxis in commercial service, and rollout of Optimus humanoid robots.

Tesla also introduced restrictions on share sales tied to the restored 2018 package, requiring Musk to remain CEO or serve in a product-development role through at least 2028 and to hold the shares for five years after vesting.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About TSLA?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for TSLA has been ‘extremely bullish’ over the past week amid nearly a 400% surge in 24-hour message volumes.

One user said, “Any other business this is down 20-25% but it still has the Elon “shine” to be overvalued and bloated. That being said it’s starting to fade more and more now “

Another user said, “Once Elon has finished burning through every last penny he can milk out of this failing EV maker, he'll have SpaceX buy it at $30/ share.”

So far this year, TSLA stock has lagged its “Magnificent Seven” peers, making it the group’s worst performer, with a 17% decline.

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