Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package inspired others. Now the strategy is in doubt

Instead of the traditional salary, bonus and equity grants, Musk’s deal consisted of options that vested after Tesla reached certain financial milestones over as long as a decade.

Elon Musk’s $56bn (€51.8bn) Tesla pay package, thrown out Tuesday by a US court, was not the only such “moonshot” deal handed out in recent years.

Numerous other compensation deals were similarly structured in the wake of Musk’s 2018 award, with boards hoping to match Tesla’s enormous share-price gains and CEOs attracted by the high-risk, high-reward strategy. Some became billionaires as a result.