Elon Musk sent out an overnight email to X staff about his long-awaited stock grant, but there was a catch.
According to an email to employees reviewed by The Verge, the company plans to grant stock options based on employees’ projected impact, meaning that in order to receive shares, employees will have to provide management with a one-page summary of their contributions to the company.
As previously reported, these highly anticipated stock grants have further increased tensions between X’s management and staff after the promotion process was recently postponed without explanation. Employees are bracing for more layoffs as the company formerly known as Twitter continues to struggle under Elon Musk’s ownership.
Additionally, sources at SpaceX told The Verge that the company has yet to pay employees their annual stock renewal, which was due in April. Two employees said Musk had previously assured employees that they would be able to cash out their shares periodically, just like SpaceX employees. But he has yet to follow through on that promise.
X’s most recent stock renewal for employees comes in October 2023, valuing the company at $19 billion, well below the $44 billion Musk paid for it. During this renewal, employees received RSUs at a stock price of $45, as I previously reported.
Alex Heath contributed reporting.