Elon Musk

responded to an unprecedented pay proposal from

Tesla Inc.

’s board by buying about US$1 billion worth of shares, sending the stock soaring in premarket trading.

The billionaire bought the stock indirectly through a revocable trust on Sept. 12, according to a regulatory filing released Monday. The purchases coincided with Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm speaking with Bloomberg News about the merits of a pay package for Musk that could be worth upwards of US$1 trillion if the company achieves a series of ambitious market value and performance milestones.

Tesla shares jumped as much as 7.3 per cent in premarket trading. If the gains hold into the regular trading session, the stock will return to positive territory for 2025, having recovered from a 45 per cent decline as of early April.

Musk, 54, last bought Tesla stock in the open market in February 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. He offloaded more than US$20 billion of the company’s shares in 2022, the year he acquired Twitter.

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The purchase amounts to a show of confidence in Tesla’s prospects after a challenging first half of the year in which vehicle deliveries slumped 13 per cent worldwide. While Musk has talked up the potential of Tesla’s pursuit of robotaxis and humanoid robots, he’s also cautioned that the company could be in for “a few rough quarters” after the U.S. phases out electric-car purchase incentives.

Musk is the world’s richest person with a net worth of about US$419 billion,

according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Bloomberg.com