Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) has purchased US$1 billion worth of Tesla, his first open market purchase of shares since early 2020.
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In a regulatory filing on Monday, it was disclosed that Musk bought 2.57 million shares of Tesla on Friday at a price between US$372.37 and US$396.54 per share.
Fox Business reported that the purchase comes as the billionaire is seeking greater control over Tesla and the company’s board put forward a $1 trillion compensation package that aims to address his goals while setting ambitious financial and operational goals for Musk’s payouts.
It is also as the company is transitioning to emphasize artificial intelligence (AI), robotaxis and robotics amid a sluggish EV market.
Musk has sought greater voting power and a larger stake in Tesla and previously said that if he doesn’t receive 25% voting power, he would rather do his work on AI and robotics outside the company. As of December, Musk had a roughly 13% stake in the company, according to LSEG data.
Tesla shares were up more than 5.3% as of early afternoon following Musk’s purchase. At the time of this report, shares of Tesla were trading at US$410.78 on NASDAQ.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur