Musk gets new multi-billion Tesla award to stay focused

Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

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1.

Musk’s carrot: Tesla granted CEO Elon Musk an interim stock award worth about USD29 billion ($44.9 billion) as a “good faith” payment while legal efforts continue to reinstate his voided 2018 pay plan. The 96 million shares, priced at USD23.34 each, will vest only if Musk remains in a key executive role through 2027 and must be held for five years. If the 2018 award is reinstated, the new one will be forfeited or offset. The headline value, based on Friday’s closing price of USD302.63, does not account for Musk’s USD2.24 billion exercise cost. Tesla shares rose 2.2%. Tesla reincorporated in Texas after a Delaware court voided Musk's pay plan. A new board committee led by Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson then explored a new agreement. The board described Tesla as being at a “critical inflection point” and said the award was needed to retain Musk amid intensifying AI competition. (Capital Brief)(SEC filing)(Tesla post)

2.

Dip warning: A chorus of stock market forecasters at some of Wall Street’s biggest firms is warning clients to prepare for a pullback as sky-high equity valuations slam into souring economic data. Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson sees a correction of up to 10% this quarter as tariffs hit consumers and corporate balance sheets. “We’re buyers of dips,” Wilson told clients in a note. Evercore’s Julian Emanuel is expecting a more substantial decline of as much as 15%. A team at Deutsche Bank led by Parag Thatte notes that a small drawdown in equities is overdue after a rally from April’s lows pushed the S&P 500 to levels it has never seen before. Despite near-term concerns, all three emphasise the long-term bull market is still intact and advise buying the dip. (Bloomberg)

3.

VC focused: HSBC launched an innovation banking division in Australia, targeting venture-backed startups in a first for a major bank. Alan Watters will lead the operation, the sixth global market for the division since HSBC acquired Silicon Valley Bank UK’s assets in 2023. The offering repositions corporate banking services, such as treasury management, international payments and dedicated relationship managers, for Series A companies and venture capital firms. HSBC also provides venture debt, claiming to be the only bank offering it locally. Since 2023, it has deployed half of its $228 million venture debt commitment, with the rest due by end-2025. Venture debt remains under 5% of total venture funding in Australia, compared to 15–20% in the US. Clients include insurtech unicorn Cover Genius. HSBC global innovation banking head David Sabow said Australia produces more unicorns per billion dollars invested than any other country. (Capital Brief)

4.

AI workloads: Google signed its first formal agreements with two US electric utilities to reduce AI data centre power use during times of surging grid demand. The deals with Indiana Michigan Power and Tennessee Valley Authority allow the company to scale back machine learning workloads when called upon, to ease strain on the grid and avoid the need for new infrastructure Meanwhile, Bullish, the crypto exchange backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, is targeting a valuation of up to USD4.23 billion in a US listing, as digital assets gain momentum. Firefly Aerospace increased the potential size of its IPO, and Bloomberg reported Amazon is restructuring its Wondery unit by shifting narrative podcasts to Audible, consolidating creator-led shows into a new unit, and cutting about 110 jobs. Elsewhere, Figma shares slumped 27% on profit taking, after a 250% surge during its IPO debut Friday, while Spotify shares rose after it announced it will increase premium subscription prices across various geographies outside the US. (Bloomberg)(Reuters)

5.

Trump Inc: Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr are backing New America Acquisition I Corp, a blank cheque firm that on Monday filed for a USD300 million ($462.2 million) IPO on the NYSE. The SPAC will seek to merge with a US-based company involved in domestic manufacturing, innovation ecosystems or critical supply chains, and positioned to benefit from government incentives such as grants, tax credits, contracts or preferential procurement programs, according to SEC filings. The two sons of the US president, Donald Jr and Eric, who received 2 million and 3 million founder shares respectively, will serve on the Florida-incorporated vehicle’s advisory board. A person close to the SPAC told the Financial Times a crypto deal was possible but the target was more likely in data centres, drones or other bricks-and-mortar sectors. The offering is underwritten by Dominari Securities, based in Trump Tower, and D Boral Capital. It follows other recent ventures by the Trump family in firearms and crypto. (Capital Brief)(SEC)(FT)(Reuters)(WJS)

6.

India warning: Donald Trump said he would be “substantially raising” the tariff on Indian exports to the US over India’s purchases of Russian oil, claiming the country is “buying massive amounts” and selling much of it “on the Open Market for big profits.” The threat follows the 25% tariff imposed on India last week and comes ahead of an 8 August deadline for Russia to reach a truce with Ukraine. India’s Ministry of External Affairs called the targeting “unjustified and unreasonable,” saying its imports are a “necessity compelled by global market situation.” India has been purchasing about 1.7 million barrels of Russian crude a day in 2025, with fuel exports averaging around 1.4 million barrels daily, according to Bloomberg and Kpler data. Meanwhile, special envoy Steve Witkoff “may be going to Russia” this week, Trump said, as the deadline for a ceasefire nears. (Donald Trump)(Bloomberg)(Reuters)

7.

Russia’s call: Russia no longer considers itself bound by a moratorium on the deployment of ground-based intermediate and shorter range missiles, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said conditions for maintaining the unilateral moratorium are no longer in place. The statement comes after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in December signalled the move, when President Vladimir Putin said he may deploy the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in Belarus in the second half of 2025. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Security Service said its drones had destroyed one Su-30CM fighter jet and damaged four other aircraft at Saki military airfield in occupied Crimea. According to the SBU, the strike also damaged three Su-24 bombers and an ammunition depot, and “caused significant losses.” (Bloomberg)

8.

Strike mode: More than 3,200 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have gone on strike at Boeing defence plants in St Louis and St Charles, Missouri, and Mascoutah, Illinois, after rejecting a modified four-year labour agreement. Boeing said the deal included a 20% general wage increase, a USD5,000 ratification bonus and would have delivered about 40% average wage growth over four years. It also removed a scheduling provision affecting overtime pay. Boeing has activated a contingency plan using non-striking workers. This is IAM District 837’s first strike in nearly 30 years. Workers said the offer failed to reflect their skill, role in national defence and family security. While District 837 was offered a 20% wage rise, District 751 secured 38% in 2024. This is Boeing’s second strike in a year, amid long-running safety and production issues, and affects its defence business, which has lost nearly USD11 billion since late 2021. (Capital Brief)(CNN)(Reuters)(AP)