Elon Musk will pay Tesla’s fine out-of-pocket!
Elon Musk is a standup guy… because he plans to right his wrongs by purchasing $20 million of Tesla stock with his own money to cover the penalty for his tweets. The CEO agreed to pay $20 million to settle a federal lawsuit stemming from tweets about taking the company private. As part of the agreement, Musk also must vacate his potion as chairman of the company.
This is unusual… but really, that is what we have come to expect from Elon Musk. It is rare for an executive to buy shares of their own company with their own money, to say the least. Musk will purchase the shares directly from Tesla (rather than the open market) so that the money will go to the company.
The company hasn’t said… that Musk is paying the fine with his purchase – but we’ll say it – he is paying the fine with his own money. The investment is relatively small, increasing Musk’s stake by 0.2% – but hey, it’s a nice gesture.