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Investors in the electric car maker gathered this Thursday to vote on a massive pay deal for CEO Elon Musk worth approximately nearly $1 trillion. If approved, this deal would showcase shareholder trust that the billionaire can steer the automaker into an period dominated by AI technology and robotics. If denied, Tesla could confront the exit of a key figure who once made the company name interchangeable with EVs.

Historic Goals and Market Capitalization

Should Musk achieve the ambitious milestones detailed in the compensation plan presented at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could emerge as the first-ever person with a trillion-dollar net worth. To accomplish this, he must guide Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in company worth, which is an eightfold increase its present worth. Moreover, he will be required to deploy numerous autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots, while upholding the corporate profits in the hundreds of billions over the next decade.

Reward System

The primary objectives of the compensation plan, split into a dozen phases, delineate a roadmap for Tesla to achieve its enormous market capitalization. If successful, Musk would be able to realize gains on an extra 12% of the company's stock. To qualify, he must maintain involvement with the corporation for no less than 7.5 years. He will also contribute to forming a long-term succession plan for the business he has led for in excess of 20 years. The equity incentives offered by the new compensation plan, combined with shares promised in his previous compensation plan, would result in Musk with 25 percent equity of Tesla's stock. As of early November, Tesla stock was trading close to its annual peak, at roughly $450 per share.

Lofty Goals

During a ten years, Musk will be tasked to produce 20 million EVs to consumers, sell 10 million live FSD memberships, produce and launch 1 million advanced androids, and launch 1 million self-driving cabs in revenue-generating use.

Musk will furthermore be obligated to elevate the corporation to $400 billion in tangible revenue for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's actual earnings for the July-September 2025 were $4.2 billion, down 9% from the same period last year.

As of November, Musk's fortune was pegged at $460 billion, the highest in the planet, as reported by financial data.

Restoring a Rescinded Package

Stockholders are additionally considering a arrangement that would compensate Musk after his previous pay package was voided by a judicial body in Delaware. The compensation package, worth an estimated $56 billion, was contested by a sole shareholder who won his case. The Delaware judicial system denied Musk's pay package on multiple instances. If shareholders approve the arrangement in Thursday's vote, Musk is set to be granted the massive amount regardless of if Tesla and Musk overturn the ruling of the case.

Subsequent to Musk's earlier remuneration deal was first rescinded, he transferred Tesla's business registration to Texas from Delaware. He did the same with his aerospace company and other companies' headquarters. In 2024, according to Texas regulations, shareholders again voted to approve the compensation plan.

But Delaware's so-called "judicial body" for a second time rejected one of the most substantial CEO compensation packages in modern history. Following that unfavorable ruling, Musk used online platforms to express dissatisfaction with the state and its "prominent judicial figure", perhaps igniting a series of corporate exits that Delaware officials have attempted to staunch with regulatory measures.

In evaluating whether Musk had excessive control in being granted that 2018 pay package, a noted legal scholar remarked that the judicial authority acknowledged that other "celebrity leaders" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were not given this type of performance-linked deals.