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Tesla shareholders assembled on Thursday to determine on a massive remuneration plan for CEO Elon Musk valued at nearly $1 trillion. Upon approval, this plan would signal market faith that the tech magnate can steer the automaker into an era defined by machine learning and robotics. If rejected, Tesla could confront the exit of a visionary leader who once made the brand synonymous with EVs.

Historic Milestones and Company Valuation

Upon reaching the ambitious milestones specified in the pay package introduced at Tesla's annual meeting, he could become the world's first trillionaire. To accomplish this, he must lead Tesla to a monumental $8.5 trillion in market value, which is an eightfold increase its present worth. Moreover, he will be obligated to launch millions autonomous vehicles and bipedal machines, while sustaining the financial performance in the hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.

Payment Breakdown

The main goals of the pay package, split into a dozen phases, chart a trajectory for Tesla to achieve its colossal market capitalization. Upon achievement, Musk would be in a position to benefit from an extra 12% of the company's stock. To be eligible, he must stay committed with the company for at least 7.5 years. Additionally, he must assist in creating a future leadership strategy for the organization he has managed for over 20 years. The equity incentives awarded by the new compensation plan, in addition to shares promised in his previous compensation plan, would result in Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's equity. As of early November, Tesla stock was trading approaching its annual peak, at approximately $450 per share.

Ambitious Targets

During a ten years, Musk will be required to manufacture 20 million zero-emission cars to buyers, sell 10 million live FSD memberships, develop and sell 1 million advanced androids, and deploy 1 million robotaxis in commercial service.

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

As of November, Musk's fortune was pegged at $460 billion, the top in the world, based on wealth indexes.

Restoring a Invalidated Deal

Stockholders are also considering a plan that would reward Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was overturned by a legal authority in Delaware. The pay plan, estimated to be $56 billion, was challenged by a single stockholder who won his case. The Delaware judicial system denied Musk's compensation plan twice. Should investors pass the proposal in Thursday's vote, Musk is expected to be granted the substantial payout irrespective of whether Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the legal matter.

After Musk's 2018 pay package was initially invalidated, he relocated Tesla's corporate home out of Delaware and into Texas. He did the same with his aerospace company and other companies' headquarters. In last year, per Texas statutes, shareholders again approved the pay package.

But Delaware's so-called "equity court" again denied one of the largest CEO payouts in contemporary business. After that negative decision, Musk used online platforms to voice displeasure with the jurisdiction and its "influential presiding justice", arguably sparking a number of company relocations that Delaware lawmakers have sought to curb with legislation.

In evaluating whether Musk had undue influence in being granted that 2018 pay package, a noted academic expert remarked that the judicial authority recognized that other "celebrity leaders" like Facebook's founder and the Amazon founder were not granted this kind of goal-oriented agreements.