Tesla founder Elon Musk has been set what has to be one of the toughest bonus plans ever - increasing the $59bn electric car maker's market value to $650bn (£466bn) in a decade.

However, if he succeeds he could get one of the biggest windfalls ever received by a chief executive - almost $70bn, though this assumes the company does not issue more shares or raise equity.

At today's prices, the award is worth about $7.2bn, on top of the almost 20pc stake in the business must already holds.

California-based Tesla revealed the scheme in a regulatory filing that also notes that the billionaire will not receive any guaranteed pay of any kind: no salary, no cash payouts or shares that vest as time rolls on.

Tesla said: “Elon's only compensation will be a 100pc at-risk performance award, which ensures that he will be compensated only if Tesla and all of its shareholders do extraordinarily well. Because all Tesla employees are provided equity, this also means that Elon's compensation is tied to the success of everyone at Tesla.”