🔗 Share this article

Tesla shareholders gathered this Thursday to vote on a substantial remuneration plan for CEO Elon Musk estimated at around $1 trillion. If approved, this package would demonstrate investor confidence that the entrepreneur can lead the automaker into an age shaped by artificial intelligence and automation. If rejected, Tesla could confront the exit of a key figure who previously established the company name interchangeable with zero-emission cars.

Historic Goals and Market Capitalization

Should Musk achieve the ambitious targets outlined in the remuneration deal introduced at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could be crowned the world's first person with a trillion-dollar net worth. To accomplish this, he must steer Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in company worth, which is 800% of its existing market cap. Moreover, he will be obligated to deploy millions autonomous vehicles and advanced androids, while maintaining the corporate profits in the massive revenue figures throughout the coming ten years.

Reward System

The key aims of the pay package, organized into a dozen phases, chart a roadmap for Tesla to reach its colossal market capitalization. Upon achievement, Musk would be in a position to cash in an additional 12% of the corporation's shares. For this to occur, he must maintain involvement with the corporation for no less than 7.5 years. Additionally, he must contribute to forming a future leadership strategy for the enterprise he has headed for more than 20 years. The equity incentives awarded by the latest pay package, combined with shares promised in his earlier deal, would leave Musk with a quarter stake of Tesla's equity. In early November, Tesla stock was trading close to its 52-week high, at roughly $450 per stock.

Formidable Objectives

Over the course of a decade, Musk will be tasked to produce 20 million EVs to buyers, sell 10 million live FSD memberships, develop and sell 1 million bipedal machines, and introduce 1 million robotaxis in paid operations.

Musk will furthermore be obligated to increase the firm to $400 billion in real profits for a full year. Tesla's actual earnings for the Q3 2025 were $4.2 billion, 9 percent lower from the same period last year.

In November, Musk's fortune was pegged at $460 billion, the highest in the world, based on market tracking.

Reinstating a Revoked Package

Investors are also reviewing a plan that would remunerate Musk after his previous pay package was voided by a judicial body in Delaware. The compensation package, worth an estimated $56 billion, was challenged by a individual investor who won his case. The Delaware court of chancery dismissed Musk's pay package on two occasions. If shareholders approve the proposal in Thursday's vote, Musk is expected to be awarded the substantial payout regardless of if Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the case.

Subsequent to Musk's earlier remuneration deal was first rescinded, he transferred Tesla's business registration to Texas from Delaware. He followed suit with his aerospace company and other companies' headquarters. In 2024, under Texas law, shareholders for a second time passed the compensation plan.

But Delaware's so-called "court of equity" for a second time rejected one of the biggest CEO payouts in contemporary business. Following that adverse judgment, Musk posted on his accounts to express dissatisfaction with the jurisdiction and its "influential presiding justice", possibly igniting a series of corporate exits that Delaware officials have sought to curb with new laws.

In considering whether Musk had excessive control in being granted that previous compensation plan, a respected law professor remarked that the judicial authority recognized that other "high-profile executives" like the Meta chief and the Amazon founder were not granted this type of performance-linked deals.