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Investors in the electric car maker gathered this Thursday to vote on a massive pay deal for the company's leader valued at close to $1 trillion. Should it pass, this package would showcase market faith that the entrepreneur can lead the automaker into an age defined by AI technology and advanced machinery. Should it fail, Tesla could potentially face the exit of a visionary leader who previously established the company name synonymous with electric vehicles.

Historic Milestones and Company Valuation

If the CEO meets the lofty targets detailed in the pay package revealed at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could emerge as the pioneering trillionaire. To accomplish this, he must lead Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in market capitalization, which is an eightfold increase its existing market cap. Furthermore, he will be required to roll out countless self-driving cars and bipedal machines, while sustaining the financial performance in the hundreds of billions throughout the coming ten years.

Reward System

The main goals of the compensation plan, organized into 12 tranches, delineate a path for Tesla to attain its enormous valuation. Upon achievement, Musk would be able to realize gains on an additional 12% of the firm's equity. For this to occur, he must stay committed with the corporation for at least 7.5 years. He will also help develop a corporate transition roadmap for the enterprise he has managed for over 20 years. The share grants provided by the latest pay package, in addition to shares guaranteed in his 2018 package, would grant Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's shares. As of early November, Tesla equity was priced close to its annual peak, at roughly $450 each share.

Ambitious Targets

Over the course of a decade, Musk will be required to manufacture 20 million zero-emission cars to customers, market 10 million active full self-driving subscriptions, develop and sell 1 million bipedal machines, and launch 1 million self-driving cabs in paid operations.

Musk will additionally be required to bring the company to $400 billion in tangible revenue for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's real profits for the Q3 2025 were $4.2 billion, a 9% decrease from the year before.

As of November, Musk's fortune was valued at $460 billion, the leading in the world, based on market tracking.

Reviving a Invalidated Plan

Investors are additionally reviewing a proposal that would compensate Musk after his previous pay package was overturned by a legal authority in Delaware. The compensation package, worth an estimated $56 billion, was contested by a individual investor who succeeded legally. The Delaware court of chancery denied Musk's pay package on two occasions. Should investors pass the plan in Thursday's vote, Musk is expected to be paid the huge sum regardless of if Tesla and Musk overturn the ruling of the lawsuit.

Subsequent to Musk's 2018 pay package was originally overturned, he transferred Tesla's business registration from Delaware to Texas. He did the same with his aerospace company and other companies' headquarters. In 2024, according to Texas regulations, shareholders once again passed the compensation plan.

But Delaware's known as "court of equity" again rejected one of the biggest CEO compensation packages in modern history. In the wake of that negative decision, Musk posted on his accounts to voice displeasure with the region and its "activist chief judge", possibly fueling a wave of business departures that Delaware lawmakers have tried to stop with new laws.

In considering whether Musk had improper sway in being granted that earlier remuneration deal, a prominent law professor observed that the judicial authority recognized that other "high-profile executives" like Facebook's founder and the e-commerce pioneer were not given this type of goal-oriented agreements.