Elon Musk announces Tesla stock option grants for 'exceptional performance' — read his email to workers

• Tesla will reward employees for "exceptional performance," according to a memo from Elon Musk obtained by BI.
• Musk told staff Tesla is working on a review that will provide merit-based stock option grants.

Tesla is implementing a system to reward "exceptional performance" with stock option grants.

Elon Musk told employees on Monday in a companywide email that the carmaker is working on an initiative to reward high performers at Tesla, according to three sources with knowledge of the issue and a screenshot of the email viewed by Business Insider.

"There will also ben an ongoing program to award spot option grants for anyone who does something outstanding for the company," Musk said.

Musk's announcement comes after the carmaker initiated a series of layoffs in April. The Tesla CEO told staff at the time that the company planned to eliminate more than 10% of its total workforce. The company later rehired some of the impacted employees. The carmaker has since posted dozens of jobs on its careers website, including roles in its Autopilot division and at its service centers.

Reuters was the first to report the memo. The company did not provide merit-based stock awards in 2023, Reuters reported.

Tesla, which disbanded its PR department years ago, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

One Tesla worker told BI that they felt Musk's email was proof the tide might finally be turning.

"We've been holding our breath for months and this feels like one of the first positive signs we've seen," the worker said.

It isn't the only spot of good news for Tesla over the past week. The company's efforts to reapprove Musk's pay package also came to fruition last week.

Tesla spent weeks campaigning for a proposal to reinstate Musk's compensation plan, which was valued at $55 billion when it was struck down by a Delaware judge in January. Tesla has said it plans to use shareholder approval to convince Delaware to reinstate the pay plan and Musk was quick to celebrate the vote during Tesla's annual meeting on Thursday.

Read Musk's full email to Tesla staff below:

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