CEO Elon Musk bought about $1 billion worth of shares in Tesla, according to a regulatory filing, sending the share price up six percent on Monday.

According to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the billionaire, who also owns social media platform X and space company SpaceX, on Friday acquired 2.57 million shares at prices ranging from $371 to $396.

The purchase came the same month Tesla unveiled a proposed compensation package for Musk that could top $1 trillion if he delivers on his vision for stratospheric growth from new technologies.

Tesla chair and close Musk associate Robyn Denholm has made several business media appearances in recent days, defending the pay package.

“He is a generational leader,” Denholm said Friday on Bloomberg TV. “There aren’t any other people out there like Elon who can actually lead the company over the next decade or so.”

The plan potentially provides Musk—already the world’s wealthiest person—with up to 12 percent of additional total company shares.

To reach the full award, Tesla must reach a market capitalization of “at least $8.5 trillion by 2035,” according to a filing, which announced a shareholder vote on the proposal in November.

Tesla is currently challenging a Delaware court ruling that struck down a 2018 package for Musk worth about $55.8 billion.

Tesla’s current market capitalization is just over $1 trillion, down somewhat from its peak following recent weak earnings.

Analysts have largely attributed these declines to Musk’s embrace of far-right politicians and causes, which has sparked criticism and sent sales plummeting in major markets.

AFP

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