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Investors in the electric car maker gathered on Thursday to vote on a substantial remuneration plan for CEO Elon Musk estimated at close to $1 trillion. Upon approval, this deal would demonstrate market faith that the tech magnate can steer the car company into an age shaped by artificial intelligence and automation. Should it fail, Tesla could risk the departure of a visionary leader who historically built the brand synonymous with EVs.

Record-Breaking Goals and Market Capitalization

If the CEO meets the formidable milestones specified in the remuneration deal presented at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could be crowned the first-ever trillionaire. To reach this goal, he must lead Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in market value, which is an eightfold increase its current valuation. Furthermore, he will be required to roll out millions autonomous vehicles and bipedal machines, while upholding the company's bottom line in the hundreds of billions of dollars throughout the coming ten years.

Payment Breakdown

The primary objectives of the pay package, organized into twelve stages, delineate a roadmap for Tesla to attain its massive market capitalization. If successful, Musk would be able to benefit from an further 12% of the firm's equity. For this to occur, he must remain vested with the firm for a minimum of 7.5 years. Furthermore, he is required to contribute to forming a future leadership strategy for the business he has managed for in excess of 20 years. The share grants provided by the latest pay package, combined with shares guaranteed in his earlier deal, would grant Musk with a quarter stake of Tesla's equity. In early November, Tesla equity was priced approaching its yearly maximum, at around $450 per share.

Formidable Objectives

Over the course of a decade, Musk will be required to deliver 20 million zero-emission cars to buyers, market 10 million live FSD memberships, create and distribute 1 million advanced androids, and launch 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 tangible revenue for the July-September 2025 were $4.2 billion, a 9% decrease from the year before.

By November, Musk's personal wealth was valued at $460 billion, the highest in the globe, as reported by market tracking.

Reinstating a Invalidated Plan

Stockholders are also considering a proposal that would compensate Musk after his previous pay package was invalidated by a court in Delaware. The pay plan, worth an estimated $56 billion, was disputed by a sole shareholder who won his case. The Delaware judicial system dismissed Musk's compensation plan on multiple instances. Should investors pass the plan in Thursday's vote, Musk is set to be paid the massive amount irrespective of whether Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the lawsuit.

Subsequent to Musk's earlier remuneration deal was first rescinded, he moved Tesla's business registration out of Delaware and into Texas. He repeated the action with his aerospace company and additional corporate bases. In 2024, under Texas law, shareholders for a second time passed the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's so-called "judicial body" again denied one of the biggest CEO compensation packages in modern history. After that negative decision, Musk used online platforms to express dissatisfaction with the state and its "activist chief judge", possibly igniting a wave of business departures that Delaware lawmakers have tried to stop with regulatory measures.

In evaluating whether Musk had excessive control in being granted that previous compensation plan, a prominent academic expert remarked that the judicial authority noted that other "high-profile executives" like Facebook's founder and the e-commerce pioneer were not granted this type of performance-linked deals.