Musk buys about $1 billion of Tesla stock

The purchase signals the CEO's confidence in the company's robotaxi technology.

- CAROLINE PETROW-COHEN

ELON MUSK is again the world's richest person after briefly ceding the pole position to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison last week.

In a move that boosted Tesla’s stock in midday trading on Monday, it was revealed that Chief Executive Elon Musk purchased approximately $1 billion worth of the company’s shares.

The vote of confidence signals that Musk plans to stick around after a recent raise and is optimistic about Tesla’s robotaxi venture. As electric vehicle sales slump, Tesla’s future is increasingly reliant on its autonomous technology, including self-driving taxis and its humanoid robot dubbed Optimus.

Musk bought the shares shortly after Tesla’s board chair, Robyn Denholm, defended his proposed pay package, which would award Musk nearly $1 trillion worth of stock depending on the company reaching a series of ambitious performance milestones.

A Delaware judge has twice struck down a previous pay package of shares worth around $56 billion. Amid the legal battle, Tesla’s board awarded Musk $29 billion in shares as an interim effort to persuade him to “stay focused.”

Musk has returned to the top of the rankings as the world’s richest person after briefly ceding the pole position to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison last week.