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Tesla shareholders assembled on Thursday to vote on a enormous remuneration plan for CEO Elon Musk estimated at close to $1 trillion. Should it pass, this package would demonstrate market faith that the billionaire can lead the car company into an era shaped by AI technology and robotics. If denied, Tesla could risk the departure of a pioneering CEO who historically built the brand equivalent with electric vehicles.

Record-Breaking Targets and Company Valuation

Should Musk achieve the formidable objectives detailed in the compensation plan presented at Tesla's annual meeting, he could be crowned the pioneering person with a trillion-dollar net worth. To reach this goal, he must lead Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in company worth, which is an eightfold increase its existing market cap. Furthermore, he will be tasked to roll out countless driverless automobiles and bipedal machines, while maintaining the financial performance in the hundreds of billions over the next decade.

Compensation Structure

The key aims of the remuneration structure, divided into 12 tranches, delineate a roadmap for Tesla to achieve its massive valuation. Upon achievement, Musk would be eligible to cash in an further 12% of the company's stock. To be eligible, he must stay committed with the corporation for a minimum of 7.5 years. Additionally, he must help develop a long-term succession plan for the business he has led for more than 20 years. The stock options offered by the new compensation plan, alongside shares assured in his earlier deal, would leave Musk with a quarter stake of Tesla's shares. By the start of November, Tesla shares were valued approaching its annual peak, at approximately $450 per share.

Ambitious Targets

Over the course of a ten years, Musk will be required to produce 20 million zero-emission cars to consumers, distribute 10 million active full self-driving subscriptions, create and distribute 1 million bipedal machines, and deploy 1 million autonomous taxis in paid operations.

Musk will furthermore be obligated to elevate the company to $400 billion in real profits for a full year. Tesla's real profits for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, down 9% from the year before.

By November, Musk's personal wealth was pegged at $460 billion, the top in the planet, based on financial data.

Reinstating a Rescinded Deal

Investors are furthermore evaluating a proposal that would remunerate Musk after his previous pay package was overturned by a court in Delaware. The compensation package, worth an estimated $56 billion, was contested by a single stockholder who prevailed in court. The state court dismissed Musk's compensation plan on multiple instances. Should investors pass the plan in the Thursday ballot, Musk is likely to be granted the huge sum whether or not Tesla and Musk overturn the ruling of the legal matter.

After Musk's previous compensation plan was originally overturned, he relocated Tesla's business registration to Texas from Delaware. He repeated the action with his aerospace company and additional corporate bases. In 2024, per Texas statutes, shareholders for a second time voted to approve the pay package.

But Delaware's known as "court of equity" for a second time ruled against one of the most substantial CEO payouts in modern history. Following that adverse judgment, Musk took to social media to express dissatisfaction with the state and its "influential presiding justice", arguably sparking a wave of business departures that Delaware lawmakers have attempted to staunch with legislation.

In considering whether Musk had improper sway in being awarded that previous compensation plan, a noted law professor commented that the court recognized that other "celebrity leaders" like Facebook's founder and the Amazon founder were not given this type of incentive-based contracts.