The new award is designed to keep Elon Musk, already Tesla’s largest shareholder, focused on the company’s shifting mission.

Tesla has granted its chief executive Elon Musk $29bn (£21.7bn) worth of its shares, in an attempt to keep the billionaire at the firm. The move comes after a US court struck down his 2018 pay package, worth more than $50bn, ruling that it was "unfair to shareholders".

Tesla has granted 96 million new shares worth about $29 billion to CEO Elon Musk, a move aimed at keeping the billionaire entrepreneur at the helm as he fights a court ruling that voided his original pay deal for being unfair to shareholders.