Good morning, CFOs. Tesla’s move to keep its leader Elon Musk focused; American consumers hunt for deals; plus, stocks rise.

Tesla took a “first step” to keep its leader Elon Musk focused on the struggling electric-vehicle maker, awarding the world’s richest man one of the biggest-ever stock awards to stick around for at least two years.

Tesla’s board approved a stock award for Musk that it tentatively valued at $23.7 billion, which he can claim in two years unless a court rescues his prior, larger stock-option grant. Musk has run Tesla without a pay package since his $50 billion option award was tossed by a court in 2024.

The electric-vehicle maker said its “interim award” of 96 million shares will vest as long as Musk remains on the job as chief executive or under another executive title heading product development or operations, according to a securities filing. It described the award as a “first step, good faith payment” to keep the world’s richest man engaged.

📆 Earnings

• Caterpillar
• Duke Energy
• Marriott International
• Match Group
• Molson Coors Beverage
• Pfizer
• Yum! Brands

📈 Economic Indicators

The Institute for Supply Management releases its Services Purchasing Managers’ Index for July.

Americans are back on the hunt for a good deal.

Consumer spending stagnated in the first half of this year, according to federal data issued last week, and the CEOs of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Kroger and Procter & Gamble, among others, are telling investors that their customers are more strapped—or appear to feel that way.

• Index Ventures, a venture firm with origins in Europe, is the envy of Silicon Valley.
• Stocks rallied Monday, with last week’s worries about the economy giving way to broad dip-buying and rate-cut optimism.

📰 Other headlines

• Denny’s Posts Lower Same-Store Sales As Consumer Sentiment Cools
• Trump Administration to Require Bonds of Up to $15,000 for Travelers to Enter the U.S.
• Palantir Technologies Hikes Outlook as Profit, Sales Rise
• Spotify to Raise Subscription Prices Around the World Amid Chase for Consistent Profit
• Chicken Saves Tyson Foods From Surging Beef Costs
• Harley-Davidson Names Topgolf Leader as New CEO
• Push to Add ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Loans to Credit Scores Hits a Snag
• Earning More but in Worse Shape: Hardship Overwhelms Many American Families
• Trump’s BLS Firing Tests Wall Street’s Reliance on Government Data

Bloomin' Brands, the Tampa, Fla.-based owner of Outback Steakhouse, named Eric Christel as chief financial officer elect. Following a transition period concluding on or about Sept. 8, he will become CFO, the company said. Christel succeeds Michael Healy, who has been named executive vice president of strategy and transformation. Healy, a 16-year veteran of Bloomin’, will lead strategic initiatives central to the company’s turnaround efforts, particularly at Outback, Bloomin' said. Christel was most recently the financial chief of the snacks division at Campbell's and before that held leadership roles at PepsiCo from 2007 and 2020.

ZoomInfo Technologies, the Vancouver, Wash.-based data and technology company, named Michael Graham O’Brien as chief financial officer. O’Brien has been the company’s interim finance chief since September 2024 and has held various roles since joining ZoomInfo in December 2017, including vice president of financial planning and analysis. Prior to ZoomInfo, O’Brien held accounting positions at RainKing Solutions and Kaseya.

—Dean Seal contributed to today’s Ledger.

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