Musk’s vow to spend more time at Tesla initially made retail investors more confident. Still, Stocktwits sentiment has now dipped into ‘extremely bearish’ levels.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has publicly stated that he received no compensation from his EV company for seven years, despite the stock exploding more than 20-fold in value over that period.

Musk posted late Monday on X (formerly Twitter): “Zero for seven years, despite increasing the value of the company >2000%.”

He was responding to a user’s post about a Wall Street Journal article that noted Musk was the lowest-paid CEO of an S&P 500 company last year, getting zero dollars.

According to Tesla’s 2018 compensation agreement, Musk could receive only stock options upon achieving specific performance milestones, such as reaching certain market capitalization, revenue, and profitability targets.

Under that plan, Musk did not receive a salary or cash bonuses.

However, that package ran into legal hurdles. In 2024, a Delaware judge invalidated the $56-billion pay package, citing concerns over the fairness of the approval process and Musk’s influence over the board.

Despite a subsequent shareholder vote reaffirming support for the package, the court maintained its decision, leaving Musk without compensation from Tesla during this period.

Last year, Musk even threatened to leave Tesla unless he was granted greater control over the company, raising worries about his long-term commitment.

Tesla’s board is reportedly reassessing Musk’s pay structure, considering options that balance rewarding performance with robust corporate governance.

Additionally, Musk's role in the Trump administration recently drew sharp criticism, and the backlash spilled over into his private ventures, particularly Tesla. 

Despite earlier remarks suggesting he'd continue in the post for another year, Musk confirmed last month that he'd be stepping down as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and said he would remain Tesla CEO for at least five more years.

Musk’s vow to spend more time at Tesla initially made retail investors more confident. Still, Stocktwits sentiment has now dipped into ‘extremely bearish’ levels compared with ‘extremely bullish’ a month ago.

As of Tuesday's close, TSLA shares are down more than 12% year-to-date.

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