On Jan. 21, 2018, Tesla granted to its co-founder and chief executive officer, Elon Musk, a performance-based stock option to acquire shares equal to 12 percent of Tesla shares outstanding at the time of grant. This option was discussed in two columns published by the author in the New York Law Journal (May 1 and June 22, 2018).
On Feb. 26, 2018 another public company, Axon Enterprise, granted a similar option to its co-founder and chief executive officer, Patrick Smith. Like the Tesla/Musk option, it covers shares equal to 12 percent of the employer’s shares outstanding at the time of grant.
† Joseph E. Bachelder III is special counsel to McCarter & English, LLP. Andy Tsang, a senior financial analyst with the firm, assisted in the preparation of this column.