The Circuitry
THE CIRCUITRYYour one-stop source for all tech news
HOMETODAYNEWSFEEDEVENTS
BOOKMARKS
RSS
© 2026 The Circuitry
About UsSourcesContactCorrectionsPrivacy
  • Today
  • Feed
  • Events
  • Saved
  • AAPL
  • MSFT
  • GOOGL
  • META
  • NVDA
  • TSLA
  • AMZN
  • INTC
  • SONY
  • TTWO
  • COIN
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • SOL
  • AAPL
  • MSFT
  • GOOGL
  • META
  • NVDA
  • TSLA
  • AMZN
  • INTC
  • SONY
  • TTWO
  • COIN
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • SOL

Feed

Ad
From The CircuitryVerified tech news, cross-checked.How we verify →
  • Musk says Tesla will return Cybertruck deposits for a lot of peopleTech
  • Musk Says SpaceX Closed $40 Billion of Debt for GPUs, Mostly CallableTech
  • SpaceX Discloses $151M Purchase of Tesla Megapacks During the Third QuarterTech
  • Tesla shifts to building its own maps for FSD after years of criticismTech
  • Tesla Reports Zero Robotaxi Injuries Over 3.3M Miles, Names Four New CitiesTech
  • Google launches a Knowledge Work layout in AntigravityTech
  • Adobe and Disney announce a multi-year alliance on custom AI modelsTech
  • NHTSA opens a recall query on 2,895 Waymo vehiclesTech
  • AMD says Google Cloud TPU 8tx uses 5th Gen EPYC chipsTech
  • CISA adds exploited FreeSWITCH bug CVE-2026-116779, due November 12Security
  • Nvidia board opens independent inquiry after reports Huang was targeted by foreign intelligenceTech
  • Meta launches Muse Ember, its smallest AI model for agent subtasksTech
Scroll for more
Verification
VERIFIEDConfidence: HIGH
Source identified
Claims cross-referenced
No discrepancies found
Fact-check summary

Electrek reports Musk exercised his full 2018 Tesla award for 303.96M shares on June 16 per Tesla's June 17 SEC Form 4; stock closed at $404.66 that day.

1 caveat
  • ▲Filing shows ~17.5M shares withheld for net settlement to cover exercise cost, contradicting the article's claim of no dispositions.
Sourcing
1source

via Electrek

Electrek · track record
38Stories
100%Verified
230d
All sources →
Markets
TSLA···

Live quote · not investment advice

Ad
From The CircuitryWhy The Circuitry

Verified tech news, cross-checked.

Every story is checked against independent sources before it posts — no rumors dressed up as fact.

How we verify →
From The CircuitryWhy The Circuitry

Verified tech news, cross-checked.

Every story is checked against independent sources before it posts — no rumors dressed up as fact.

How we verify →
Home/Tech/Musk Completes Exercise of 2018 Tesla Compensation Award for $116 Billion Unrealized Gain
VERIFIEDBy Xavier Rivera·Wednesday, June 17, 2026 at 6:07 PM AST·1.5 min read

Musk Completes Exercise of 2018 Tesla Compensation Award for $116 Billion Unrealized Gain

Elon Musk has exercised the full 2018 Tesla CEO compensation award, securing 303,960,630 shares for an approximate $116 billion paper gain according to an SEC filing. No shares were sold during the transaction and the acquired stock remains restricted until 2028.

Source:Electrek
Post
Musk Completes Exercise of 2018 Tesla Compensation Award for $116 Billion Unrealized Gain
Ad
From The CircuitryVerified tech news, cross-checked.How we verify →
Ad
From The CircuitryWhy The Circuitry

Verified tech news, cross-checked.

Every story is checked against independent sources before it posts — no rumors dressed up as fact.

How we verify →
TL;DRAI · 60 sec read

Elon Musk completed the exercise of his 2018 Tesla CEO compensation award. He obtained 303,960,630 shares at a split-adjusted exercise price of 23.34 dollars, generating a 116 billion dollar unrealized gain based on the closing price that day. Musk retained every share and sold none to cover costs. The shares stay restricted until 2028.

Morning Brief

Get the daily Tesla brief

Every morning, in your inbox. What's in The Brief →

Elon Musk has now fully exercised the performance-based award granted as his 2018 Tesla CEO compensation, obtaining 303,960,630 shares that delivered an approximate $116 billion paper profit, a new SEC filing shows.

Tesla discloses the option exercise in regulatory filings. The company submitted a Form 4 along with an amended Schedule 13G to the SEC on June 17, each detailing activity that occurred on June 16, 2026.
All shares acquired through the award stay restricted until 2028.
Musk converted options covering 303,960,630 shares with a split-adjusted exercise price of $23.34. Tesla shares ended that session at $404.66, producing a per-share spread of $381.32.

No shares were sold to cover the exercise. According to the documents, Musk retained every share received in the transaction and did not dispose of any to fund the exercise.
From The CircuitryThe Feed — live briefs across tech, all day.See what’s happening →
All shares acquired through the award stay restricted until 2028. This arrangement keeps the stake from the original performance-tied grant unavailable for sale in the near term.
At prevailing valuations the award creates major unrealized value while avoiding an immediate tax obligation that would arise from a sale.
The 2018 package tied compensation to aggressive market-cap and operational targets. The latest disclosure verifies that Musk has now exercised the full award, which was originally issued after Tesla achieved the required valuation and operational hurdles across several years.

The paper gain equals the gap between the strike price and the market price on the exercise date. At prevailing valuations the award creates major unrealized value while avoiding an immediate tax obligation that would arise from a sale.
Ad
From The CircuitryWhy The Circuitry

Verified tech news, cross-checked.

Every story is checked against independent sources before it posts — no rumors dressed up as fact.

How we verify →
Tesla's stock performance since the original grant has driven the outsized outcome. The June 16 closing price represents more than a 17-fold increase from the split-adjusted strike.
Why this mattersAI · ~100 words

Tap a lens to see what this story means for you.

Morning Brief

Liked this? The Brief brings you the whole day in tech, verified, every morning.

Two minutes, free forever. What's in The Brief →

Reader-supported
DonateBuy me a coffee →Follow@thecircuitry_ →Follow@thecircuitry.to →
HELP US IMPROVE
From The Circuitry

See what’s happening right now

The Feed runs all day — short, verified briefs the moment they break.

Open the Feed →
From The Circuitry

Follow @thecircuitry_

Every story we publish, as it happens. No noise between.

Follow on X ↗On Bluesky ↗

Reader-supported

The Circuitry is a passion project I've always wanted to build, and I love the work behind it.

Running it costs real money. APIs, hosting, time. To keep improving the site and growing this into something useful for everyone, those costs have to be covered.

Any contribution is appreciated. If not, no pressure. Thanks for reading.

Buy me a coffee
TeslaElon MuskExecutive CompensationSEC Filing
More fromElectrek
  • Tesla shifts to building its own maps for FSD after years of criticism

    Tech · 18d
  • BYD launches Atto 8 flagship EV SUV with up to 405 miles of range

    Tech · 28d
  • VW Plans 100k Job Cuts, May Halt EV Production at 4 Plants

    Tech · 2mo
More inTech
  • Google launches a Knowledge Work layout in Antigravity

    Tech · 2m
  • Adobe and Disney announce a multi-year alliance on custom AI models

    Tech · 33m
  • NHTSA opens a recall query on 2,895 Waymo vehicles

    Tech · 33m
SupportThe Work

The Circuitry is reader-supported. If you find the daily brief useful, you can buy me a coffee to keep it going.

Buy a coffee →
Ad
From The CircuitryWhy The Circuitry

Verified tech news, cross-checked.

Every story is checked against independent sources before it posts — no rumors dressed up as fact.

How we verify →
From The CircuitryWhy The Circuitry

Verified tech news, cross-checked.

Every story is checked against independent sources before it posts — no rumors dressed up as fact.

How we verify →

MORE IN THIS BEAT

All Tech →
  • Tech·Nov 9

    Musk says Tesla will return Cybertruck deposits for a lot of people

    Elon Musk said Tesla will have to return Cybertruck deposits for a lot of people, and that the order rate far exceeds production.

  • Tech·Oct 25

    Musk Says SpaceX Closed $40 Billion of Debt for GPUs, Mostly Callable

    Elon Musk said on X that SpaceX "closed $40B of debt for GPUs," adding that the company is investment grade and has Starlink and launch revenue, while debt markets have "almost entirely shut off" for companies without substantial revenue independent of AI data centers. In a follow-up reply, Musk said it is "primarily callable debt for GPU purchases that will arrive in Q1 and Q2" and "not a major factor this quarter." Musk did not name lenders or terms. Reuters, the FT, CNBC, Semafor and Bloomberg had earlier reported, citing unnamed sources, that SpaceX was arranging about $40 billion of debt for Nvidia chips, with Apollo and Goldman Sachs reported to be leading.

  • Tech·Oct 22

    SpaceX Discloses $151M Purchase of Tesla Megapacks During the Third Quarter

    SpaceX bought $151 million in Tesla Megapack purchases during the third quarter in its latest 10-Q filing. The purchases bring the company's year-to-date total to $480 million.

  • Tech·Oct 22

    Tesla shifts to building its own maps for FSD after years of criticism

    Tesla is building its own maps to fix recurring FSD problems with speed limits, parking, and routes. The change reverses the company's prior stance that map-dependent systems are brittle.

  • Tech·Oct 21

    Tesla Reports Zero Robotaxi Injuries Over 3.3M Miles, Names Four New Cities

    Tesla says its unsupervised Robotaxi fleet has driven more than 3.3 million miles with no injuries, airbag deployments or pedestrian strikes, according to its new Robotaxi Safety Report. Tesla also lists Las Vegas, Jacksonville, Phoenix and San Antonio as coming soon.