Elon Musk will reportedly keep awarding Twitter employees stock and options – even though the company is now private

• Elon Musk told Twitter workers they can still get stock and options in pay packages, per CNBC.
• SpaceX also grants employees stock awards twice a year, despite being a private company.

Elon Musk has told Twitter employees they can keep getting stock and options as part of their compensation even though the tech company is now private, CNBC reported.

The Twitter stock plan will be similar to a program already in place at Musk's aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, according to an internal memo seen by the outlet Monday.

"Even though Twitter is now a private company we absolutely will continue to provide stock and options as part of our ongoing compensation plan," Musk said.

"The stock plan will be much like that of SpaceX, which has been very successful," he added.

SpaceX, which has remained a private company for over two decades, grants its employees stock awards twice a year – which they can then choose to sell whenever it conducts secondary offerings to raise fresh funding.

Tech giants like Amazon and Meta Platforms also offer stock options alongside regular salaries in compensation packages, as a means of aligning employees' goals with those of the business.

But their workers will have seen the value of their shares marked down significantly this year, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeting 28.4% year-to-date as interest rates rise and Americans begin to fret about a recession-fuelled slowdown in spending.

Musk has promised to grant employees "exceptional amounts of stock" in exchange for "exceptional performance", per CNBC.

Read more: Elon Musk will have to sell Tesla stock to fund Twitter unless the exodus of advertisers reverses soon, says Loup's Gene Munster