Tesla, Inc. management check
TSLA · Consumer Discretionary · Automobile Manufacturers · CEO Elon Musk
Filings as of
2 good · 4 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Watch
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $191, against $233 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 4 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.90 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Flag
What does the CEO cost owners?
4107.9% of net income$158.4bn of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $3.9bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 1.9 years of payThe CEO holds 727,704,534 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 1.9 years of pay. 2 insiders sold $13.3m in the last six months and none bought. 16 of 19 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.6% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 3.0% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
4 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Mr. Musk. 4 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Watch
Are the books clean?
An annual report was amendedNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021. 3 amended annual reports.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Consumer Discretionary.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 27 | 70 | |
| Pay for performance | 95 | 79 | |
| CEO cost | 0 | 44 | |
| Skin in the game | 28 | 36 | |
| Dilution | 42 | 74 | |
| Stable leadership | 100 | 80 | |
| Clean books | 70 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Automobile Manufacturers, by management score. Tesla, Inc. is 40th of 47 in its sector.
- 38GMGeneral Motors83
- 174FFord Motor Company71
- 391GPCGenuine Parts Company54
- 408TSLATesla, Inc.52
- 434CCLCarnival Corporation49
- 437NKENike, Inc.48
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed October 19, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mr. Musk | $158.4bn | $10.4bn | $400k | $191 | $233 | $3.9bn |
| 2023 | — | — | $1.4bn | $8.4m | $106 | $140 | $15.0bn |
| 2022 | — | — | −$9.7bn | $300k | $52 | $94 | $12.6bn |
| 2021 | — | — | $15.0bn | $300k | $150 | $146 | $5.6bn |
The board says pay is tied most to revenue. Its other key measures: Revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, Market Capitalization.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Elon Musk (CEO) held 727,704,534 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Jun 16, 2026, roughly $294.5bn at that filing's price.
2 insiders sold $13.3m in the last six months and none bought. 16 of 19 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldKathleen Wilson-ThompsonDirector · 10b5-1 plan$10.0mApr 30, 2026
- SoldVaibhav TanejaChief Financial Officer$3.3mSep 8, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Apr 30, 2026Annual report amended10-K/A
- Nov 7, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 4, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 16, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 30, 2025Annual report amended10-K/A
- Apr 16, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 7, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 28, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 2, 2022Annual report amended10-K/A
Latest shareholder vote results: Nov 7, 2025, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $0 returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 0% of net income, and $10.3bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $53.8bn | $81.5bn | $96.8bn | $97.7bn | $94.8bn |
| Net income | $5.6bn | $12.6bn | $15.0bn | $7.2bn | $3.9bn |
| Stock-based pay | $2.1bn | $1.6bn | $1.8bn | $2.0bn | $2.8bn |
| Buybacks | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 3386m | 3475m | 3485m | 3498m | 3528m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.