Musk on Cusp of $730 Million Award, Even After Tweet Tanks Stock

Not even a pandemic -- or a tweet -- can push Elon Musk off the path toward claiming the first piece of his moonshot pay package.

Barring a sudden and massive plunge in the electric-car maker’s market value, its chief executive officer is poised to meet the final performance threshold needed to claim the first of 12 tranches as early as next week, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Elon Musk

The options would yield Musk a windfall of about $730 million if he exercised them immediately and sold the shares, based on Thursday’s closing price, but that’s unlikely given that Musk, ...