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Tesla shareholders gathered this Thursday to decide on a substantial compensation package for CEO Elon Musk worth approximately close to $1 trillion. If approved, this plan would showcase investor confidence that the tech magnate can steer the vehicle manufacturer into an age shaped by machine learning and advanced machinery. If rejected, Tesla could potentially face the exit of a pioneering CEO who once made the corporation interchangeable with electric vehicles.

Record-Breaking Targets and Market Capitalization

Should Musk achieve the formidable milestones detailed in the pay package presented at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could emerge as the pioneering trillionaire. To reach this goal, he must steer Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in company worth, which is an eightfold increase its current valuation. Moreover, he will be tasked to launch countless self-driving cars and humanoid robots, while maintaining the company's bottom line in the hundreds of billions in the upcoming decade.

Payment Breakdown

The primary objectives of the pay package, split into a dozen phases, outline a trajectory for Tesla to attain its enormous market capitalization. Should targets be met, Musk would be able to realize gains on an extra 12% of the company's stock. To qualify, he must remain vested with the firm for at least 7.5 years. Additionally, he must help develop a long-term succession plan for the enterprise he has managed for over 20 years. The share grants provided by the new compensation plan, combined with shares promised in his earlier deal, would result in Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's equity. By the start of November, Tesla equity was priced close to its 52-week high, at around $450 each share.

Ambitious Targets

During a ten years, Musk will be obligated to produce 20 million EVs to customers, distribute 10 million live FSD memberships, create and distribute 1 million humanoid robots, and introduce 1 million robotaxis in commercial service.

Musk will additionally be tasked to elevate the company to $400 billion in actual earnings for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's actual earnings for the Q3 2025 were $4.2 billion, a 9% decrease from the same period last year.

By November, Musk's net worth was estimated at $460 billion, the top in the globe, as reported by market tracking.

Reviving a Rescinded Deal

Stockholders are additionally considering a arrangement that would reward Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was invalidated by a legal authority in Delaware. The compensation package, worth an estimated $56 billion, was challenged by a individual investor who prevailed in court. The state court denied Musk's pay package on multiple instances. Upon stockholder approval the arrangement in the shareholder meeting, Musk is likely to be paid the huge sum irrespective of whether Tesla and Musk overturn the ruling of the lawsuit.

After Musk's 2018 pay package was initially invalidated, he moved Tesla's corporate home from Delaware to Texas. He repeated the action with his aerospace company and other business entities. In last year, per Texas statutes, shareholders once again voted to approve the compensation plan.

But Delaware's so-called "judicial body" for a second time ruled against one of the largest CEO pay deals in recent times. After that negative decision, Musk used online platforms to express dissatisfaction with the state and its "activist chief judge", arguably sparking a number of company relocations that Delaware legislators have tried to stop with legislation.

In evaluating whether Musk had improper sway in being awarded that 2018 pay package, a prominent academic expert remarked that the court acknowledged that other "superstar CEOs" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and the Amazon founder were not awarded this kind of incentive-based contracts.