Tesla shares rose over 7% in premarket trading on September 15, 2025. This came after Tesla chief Elon Musk announced he had purchased over 2.5 million shares of the firm. The acquisition, worth about $1 billion, was made in a regulatory filing and represented multiple transactions at various prices on September 12, 2025. This is widely regarded as an aggressive statement of confidence in Tesla's long-term growth by Musk.
The stock buy-in is in response to Tesla having offered a huge new compensation package for Musk. If approved, the package has the potential to make him the world's first trillionaire since the shares valued at up to 12% of Tesla would be issued in tranches.
Tesla share price chart on TradingView shows gains of 7.36% at press time:
The targets, however, are extremely ambitious and require Tesla to meet milestones in car production, profitability, and market value. For Musk to gain the initial tranche of shares, Tesla would need to double its market capitalisation to $2 trillion. To unblock the entire package, Tesla would need to reach an eye-watering $8.5 trillion valuation, double that of current market leader Nvidia.
While Musk made a display of confidence, Tesla has major headwinds. Sales have fallen this year, in part because of criticism of Musk's political affiliation with President Donald Trump, and competition is growing from both American automakers and Chinese competitors. Shareholders are likely to consider these dangers when Tesla holds its annual meeting on November 6, where the new compensation scheme will come up for a vote.
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