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Investors in the electric car maker assembled on Thursday to determine on a substantial compensation package for the company's leader estimated at close to $1 trillion. Should it pass, this package would showcase shareholder trust that the entrepreneur can guide the vehicle manufacturer into an age dominated by artificial intelligence and advanced machinery. If denied, Tesla could potentially face the departure of a key figure who historically built the corporation equivalent with EVs.

Historic Goals and Company Valuation

Upon reaching the ambitious milestones outlined in the remuneration deal revealed at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could be crowned the world's first trillionaire. For this to happen, he must guide Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in market value, which is an eightfold increase its existing market cap. Moreover, he will be obligated to deploy numerous driverless automobiles and advanced androids, while sustaining the company's bottom line in the hundreds of billions throughout the coming ten years.

Compensation Structure

The primary objectives of the pay package, split into twelve stages, delineate a path for Tesla to reach its massive worth. Upon achievement, Musk would be in a position to realize gains on an additional 12% of the company's stock. For this to occur, he must maintain involvement with the corporation for no less than 7.5 years. Furthermore, he is required to contribute to forming a corporate transition roadmap for the business he has led for over 20 years. The share grants awarded by the updated remuneration deal, alongside shares assured in his previous compensation plan, would result in Musk with a quarter stake of Tesla's stock. By the start of November, Tesla stock was trading near its 52-week high, at approximately $450 per share.

Lofty Goals

During a decade, Musk will be required to produce 20 million zero-emission cars to buyers, market 10 million live FSD memberships, produce and launch 1 million advanced androids, and introduce 1 million robotaxis in revenue-generating use.

Musk will also be required to bring the company to $400 billion in actual earnings for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's real profits for the Q3 2025 were $4.2 billion, 9 percent lower from the previous year.

As of November, Musk's fortune was estimated at $460 billion, the highest in the globe, based on market tracking.

Reinstating a Revoked Deal

Shareholders are also considering a proposal that would reward 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 individual investor who won his case. The Delaware court of chancery denied Musk's remuneration deal on two occasions. If shareholders approve the proposal in Thursday's vote, Musk is set to be granted the huge sum regardless of if Tesla and Musk win an appeal of the case.

After Musk's 2018 pay package was first rescinded, he relocated Tesla's corporate home to Texas from Delaware. He followed suit with SpaceX and additional corporate bases. In 2024, under Texas law, shareholders again passed the compensation plan.

But Delaware's so-called "judicial body" again ruled against one of the biggest CEO compensation packages in contemporary business. After that negative decision, Musk used online platforms to express dissatisfaction with the region and its "influential presiding justice", arguably sparking a wave of business departures that Delaware lawmakers have tried to stop with new laws.

In evaluating whether Musk had undue influence in being given that 2018 pay package, a respected legal scholar observed that the court acknowledged that other "high-profile executives" like the Meta chief and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were not awarded this sort of goal-oriented agreements.