Elon Musk becomes first person worth US$700 billion following pay package ruling

TESLA CEO Elon Musk’s net worth surged to US$749 billion late Friday (Dec 19) ‍after ​the Delaware Supreme Court reinstated Tesla ‍stock options worth US$139 billion that were voided last year, according ​to ​Forbes’ billionaires index.

Musk’s 2018 pay package, once worth US$56 billion, was restored by the Delaware Supreme Court on Friday, ‍two years after a lower court struck down the ​compensation deal as “unfathomable”.

The ⁠Supreme Court said that a 2024 ruling that rescinded the pay package had been improper and inequitable to Musk.

Earlier this ​week, Musk became the first person ever to surpass US$600 billion in net ‌worth on the ​heels of reports that his aerospace startup SpaceX was likely to go public.

In November, Tesla shareholders separately approved a US$1 trillion pay plan for Musk, the largest corporate pay package in history, as investors endorsed his vision ‍of morphing the electric-vehicle maker into an artificial intelligence and ​robotics juggernaut.

Musk’s fortune now exceeds that of Google co-founder ​Larry Page, the world’s second-richest person, ‌by nearly US$500 billion, according to Forbes’ billionaires list. REUTERS