Elon Musk exercised more than 303 million Tesla stock options on June 16, 2026, generating roughly $115.9 billion in paper gains. The move increased his voting power in the company to 20 percent. It also coincided with the start of SpaceX's IPO roadshow.
A Form 4 filing with the SEC on June 17 showed that Musk exercised the options from his 2018 compensation package at a split-adjusted strike price of $23.34. Tesla shares closed at $404.66 that day. The company withheld 17.5 million shares through net settlement, so Musk paid nothing out of pocket.
The shares are locked up until 2033. The transaction followed years of legal challenges over the original award. A Delaware court initially rescinded it in 2024 before the state Supreme Court reversed that ruling in late 2025.
The timing has renewed discussion about a possible merger between Tesla and SpaceX. SpaceX recently completed its IPO, giving it publicly tradable shares that could be used in a stock-for-stock deal. Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush has placed the odds of such a combination at 80 to 90 percent by early 2027.
