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Investors in the electric car maker convened on Thursday to vote on a substantial pay deal for Chief Executive Elon Musk estimated at close to $1 trillion. If approved, this deal would showcase investor confidence that the entrepreneur can steer the automaker into an age shaped by machine learning and automation. If rejected, Tesla could risk the departure of a key figure who once made the corporation equivalent with electric vehicles.

Historic Milestones and Company Valuation

Should Musk achieve the ambitious targets detailed in the compensation plan introduced at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could become the first-ever person with a trillion-dollar net worth. To reach this goal, he must lead Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in market value, which is an eightfold increase its existing market cap. Additionally, he will be tasked to roll out countless self-driving cars and humanoid robots, while sustaining the corporate profits in the hundreds of billions throughout the coming ten years.

Reward System

The main goals of the compensation plan, divided into twelve stages, chart a trajectory for Tesla to attain its massive valuation. If successful, Musk would be in a position to benefit from an further 12% of the corporation's shares. For this to occur, he must remain vested with the firm for a minimum of 7.5 years. Additionally, he must assist in creating a corporate transition roadmap for the business he has led for over 20 years. The equity incentives awarded by the latest pay package, alongside shares guaranteed in his previous compensation plan, would result in Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's stock. By the start of November, Tesla stock was trading approaching its yearly maximum, at approximately $450 per share.

Ambitious Targets

Over the course of a ten years, Musk will be tasked to manufacture 20 million zero-emission cars to buyers, distribute 10 million active full self-driving subscriptions, create and distribute 1 million advanced androids, and introduce 1 million robotaxis in commercial service.

Musk will furthermore be tasked to increase the corporation to $400 billion in tangible revenue for four straight quarters. Tesla's tangible revenue for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, a 9% decrease from the year before.

By November, Musk's net worth was pegged at $460 billion, the leading in the globe, according to market tracking.

Reviving a Invalidated Package

Stockholders are also evaluating a proposal that would remunerate Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was voided by a court 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 rejected Musk's compensation plan on multiple instances. If shareholders approve the arrangement in the Thursday ballot, Musk is expected to be granted the substantial payout irrespective of whether Tesla and Musk overturn the ruling of the legal matter.

Following Musk's previous compensation plan was originally overturned, he relocated Tesla's business registration from Delaware to Texas. He followed suit with SpaceX and other companies' headquarters. In 2024, under Texas law, shareholders again approved the pay package.

But Delaware's so-called "court of equity" for a second time rejected one of the biggest CEO pay deals in modern history. In the wake of that negative decision, Musk posted on his accounts to show frustration with the state and its "influential presiding justice", possibly igniting a wave of business departures that Delaware lawmakers have tried to stop with regulatory measures.

In reviewing whether Musk had improper sway in being awarded that 2018 pay package, a prominent academic expert observed that the judge noted that other "high-profile executives" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and the e-commerce pioneer were not awarded this type of incentive-based contracts.