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Investors in the electric car maker assembled this Thursday to vote on a massive remuneration plan for CEO Elon Musk estimated at close to $1 trillion. Upon approval, this plan would demonstrate investor confidence that the entrepreneur can guide the vehicle manufacturer into an age defined by machine learning and robotics. If rejected, Tesla could confront the loss of a key figure who historically built the corporation equivalent with EVs.

Historic Targets and Company Valuation

Should Musk achieve the ambitious milestones outlined in the compensation plan revealed at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could be crowned the pioneering trillionaire. To reach this goal, he must steer Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in market value, which is an eightfold increase its existing market cap. Furthermore, he will be obligated to launch millions driverless automobiles and bipedal machines, while maintaining the company's bottom line in the hundreds of billions throughout the coming ten years.

Compensation Structure

The main goals of the compensation plan, divided into a dozen phases, outline a path for Tesla to attain its enormous market capitalization. Should targets be met, Musk would be eligible to realize gains on an further 12% of the company's stock. To qualify, he must remain vested with the corporation for a minimum of 7.5 years. Furthermore, he is required to assist in creating a corporate transition roadmap for the enterprise he has managed for more than 20 years. The stock options awarded by the new compensation plan, alongside shares assured in his earlier deal, would leave Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's equity. As of early November, Tesla equity was priced approaching its yearly maximum, at approximately $450 per stock.

Lofty Goals

Over the course of a ten-year period, Musk will be obligated to manufacture 20 million EVs to consumers, sell 10 million live FSD memberships, develop and sell 1 million advanced androids, and launch 1 million self-driving cabs in commercial service.

Musk will furthermore be required to bring the corporation to $400 billion in actual earnings for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's real profits for the July-September 2025 were $4.2 billion, a 9% decrease from the previous year.

As of November, Musk's net worth was valued at $460 billion, the highest in the planet, based on financial data.

Reinstating a Revoked Package

Stockholders are also evaluating a proposal that would compensate Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was invalidated by a judicial body in Delaware. The remuneration deal, worth an estimated $56 billion, was disputed by a single stockholder who succeeded legally. The Delaware judicial system denied Musk's remuneration deal twice. Upon stockholder approval the arrangement in the Thursday ballot, Musk is set to be granted the substantial payout regardless of if Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the lawsuit.

Following Musk's previous compensation plan was first rescinded, he transferred Tesla's legal headquarters from Delaware to Texas. He followed suit with the rocket firm and additional corporate bases. In 2024, per Texas statutes, shareholders once again passed the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's so-called "equity court" again denied one of the biggest CEO pay deals in contemporary business. After that adverse judgment, Musk used online platforms to show frustration with the jurisdiction and its "influential presiding justice", possibly sparking a wave of business departures that Delaware officials have sought to curb with legislation.

In reviewing whether Musk had improper sway in being granted that previous compensation plan, a noted legal scholar observed that the judicial authority noted that other "superstar CEOs" like the Meta chief and the e-commerce pioneer were not given this type of incentive-based contracts.