Musk commits to Tesla CEO role, plans political pullback: report

NEW YORK -- Multi billionaire and US political figure Elon Musk said he's committed to still leading Tesla Inc in five years and expects to pare back his political spending, assuaging some investors' concerns about the future of his most valuable company, reported Bloomberg News on Tuesday.

During a remote appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Qatar, Musk said that he should be compensated for doing "something incredible" at Tesla. He criticized the Delaware judge who's twice ruled against the massive pay package the company awarded him in 2018 and reiterated that he wants to own more shares of Tesla for reasons of authority, rather than wealth.

"It's not a money thing," Musk said. "It's a reasonable control thing, over the future of the company."

Musk later said that he's going to spend "a lot less" in the future on politics, saying he thinks he's done enough. "If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it," he said. "I do not currently see a reason."

Musk, whose $375.5 billion fortune leads the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has been chief executive officer of Tesla since 2008, one of the longest active stints atop the world's major automakers. His level of engagement with Tesla has come under greater scrutiny as the company has followed up its first annual drop in vehicle sales in over a decade with steeper declines early this year.