Elon Musk says X staff can get their stock — if they prove they deserve it

Elon Musk sent an email to X staff overnight about their much-anticipated stock grants — but there’s a catch.

In an email to staff viewed by The Verge, the company is planning to award stock options based on the anticipated impact of employees. That means staff have to submit a one-page summary telling leadership their contributions to the company in order to get their stock.

These long-awaited stock grants add to the tensions between X leadership and staff after the promotions process was recently delayed without explanation, we previously reported. Given how the company formerly called Twitter has continued to struggle under Elon Musk’s ownership, employees have been bracing for more layoffs.

What’s more, a source at X told The Verge that the company still owes staff their annual equity refresher, which was supposed to be doled out in April. Musk previously assured employees that they could regularly cash out stock, similar to SpaceX staff, according to two employees. However, he has not yet followed through on this promise.

The most recent stock refresh for X employees was in October 2023, valuing the company at $19 billion — significantly less than the $44 billion Musk paid for it. During this refresh, employees received RSUs at a share price of $45, I previously reported.

Alex Heath contributed reporting.