Musk will convert 300 million Tesla stock options into voting shares.

Elon Musk converted part of his stock options into shares that have immediate voting rights but cannot be sold until 2028, thereby increasing his voting power at Tesla to 20%. Securities filings show that Musk fulfilled an agreement made in April with Tesla to convert approximately 300 million unexercised options from his 2018 compensation plan. This unusual transaction means that Musk did not receive more common Tesla stock, but instead received restricted stock that will vest on January 19, 2028, the original expiration date of the options. However, a document released on Wednesday indicated that these shares "come with voting rights exercisable by Musk." He surrendered 17.5 million shares to cover the cost of exercising the options, which amounted to approximately $7.1 billion. After the transaction, Musk holds approximately 700 million shares of Tesla, including those held through trusts. In a securities filing, he stated that this represents about 19.9% of the total outstanding shares.