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Elon Musk on track to become world's first trillionaire after court reinstates Tesla pay package

The Tesla owner has already become the first person to surpass the $700bn mark after a court ruling on Friday

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Elon Musk.
Elon Musk could become the world's first trillionaire. Picture: Alamy

By Alex Storey

Elon Musk has taken a step closer to becoming the world's first trillionaire after a court reinstated his Tesla stock options worth billions of dollars.

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The Telsa boss became the first person to surpass the $700bn milestone, after seeing his net worth climb to $749bn (£559bn) on Friday.

According to Forbe's billionaires index, Musk is already the world's richest man, and around $500bn (£373bn) richer than the second-richest Larry Page, the co-founder of Google.

It comes after the Delaware Supreme Court ruled to reinstate his 2018 Tesla stock options worth $139bn (£103bn), which were rescinded last year.

Read more: Tesla approves Elon Musk pay package that could make him world's first trillionaire

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Musk has already become the first person to surpass the $700bn mark.
Musk has already become the first person to surpass the $700bn mark. Picture: Getty

Back then, Musk was awarded a pay package including stocks worth $56bn (£41bn) but it was struck down in a lower court last year after the compensation was deemed "unfathomable".

However, Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick concluded after a five-day trial that Tesla's directors were conflicted and key facts were hidden from shareholders when they voted to approve the plan.

On Friday, the state supreme court ruled that rescinding the pay package left the Tesla head "uncompensated for his time and efforts over a period of six years", and that Ms McCormick's verdict had been improper and inequitable.

In a brief reply on X, which he owns, Musk said he was "vindicated."

Under the new agreement, Musk will not receive a salary but meeting all targets would see him receive more than 400 million extra shares in Tesla.I

If the company's value is raised to the target, those would be worth around $1trn.