The potential tax implications for Tesla if they decide to grant a new stock option award to Musk instead of restoring the previous options are not explicitly mentioned in the provided text. However, it is mentioned that there would be negative tax implications for doing so. This could potentially mean additional taxes or financial burdens for Tesla as a company.
The Tesla board expressed the necessity of a significant compensation package for Musk in their communication to shareholders for several reasons. Firstly, they believe that a substantial pay package would help keep Musk focused on Tesla and its challenges ahead, including his promises about making self-driving cars and humanoid robots widely available. Secondly, Musk has stated that he would not want to grow Tesla to become a leader in artificial intelligence and robotics without a compensation plan that would give him ownership of around 25% of the company's stock. Lastly, the board recognizes that Musk has limited time and numerous other ideas and ventures where he can make a difference, so they want to ensure that his ideas, energy, and time are dedicated to Tesla for the benefit of the shareholders.
Elon Musk has expressed that he would want to have 25% voting control of Tesla before expanding its artificial intelligence and robotics efforts5. He believes that having a significant stake in the company would allow him to be influential enough to drive the direction of AI and robotics development, while still being able to be overturned by other shareholders if necessary. Musk's motivation for wanting a larger stake in Tesla is to ensure that he has enough control to push for the development of advanced technologies like self-driving cars and humanoid robots, which he sees as crucial to the company's future growth.