August 6, 2025 – A Tesla engineer took to X to defend Elon Musk’s recently approved $29 billion compensation package, arguing the CEO’s eight-year sacrifice and leadership justified the unprecedented 96 million-share award.
Yun-Ta Tsai, a five-year Tesla veteran currently serving in an engineering role for 27 months, revealed in his post that Musk had worked without salary since 2016 while maintaining a relentless 7-day workweek schedule. “I once joked my annual pay exceeded his – which was technically true,” Tsai wrote, highlighting Musk’s voluntary compensation hiatus that coincided with Tesla’s Model 3 production hell and SolarCity integration challenges.
The engineer emphasized Musk’s crisis leadership, noting the CEO’s habit of sleeping in Tesla’s Fremont factory during critical production ramp-ups. This commitment, Tsai argued, created a “cultural anchor” that prevented team attrition during multiple existential threats to the company. “Without his vision holding us together during the 2018-2020 storm, I wouldn’t have stayed,” the engineer confessed.
Musk’s work ethic – famously documented in incidents like nearly missing his brother’s wedding due to SpaceX launch preparations – has been credited with driving simultaneous successes across Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. The compensation announcement follows Tesla’s board declaration that “no single individual has created more shareholder value in the automotive industry’s history.”
The award structure includes unique safeguards:
Musk must purchase shares at the same $23.34/share strike price from his 2018 performance award (post-split adjustment)
Two-year vesting period requiring continuous senior leadership role
Antitrust regulatory approval before issuance
Five-year lockup with exceptions only for tax obligations or purchase financing, subject to company coordination
Mandatory forfeiture clause if Delaware court reinstates 2018 award, preventing “double dipping”
Tesla’s compensation committee stressed the timing was critical, stating: “The board believes recognizing Elon’s unique contributions now – while he continues scaling our energy and AI initiatives – aligns long-term value creation with shareholder interests.”
The announcement arrives amid renewed scrutiny of executive compensation, with Tesla shares surging 12% since the package’s disclosure on Monday.
