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Investors in the electric car maker assembled on Thursday to vote on a substantial pay deal for the company's leader estimated at close to $1 trillion. Upon approval, this plan would showcase shareholder trust that the billionaire can steer the car company into an age shaped by artificial intelligence and advanced machinery. Should it fail, Tesla could risk the loss of a pioneering CEO who historically built the company name interchangeable with zero-emission cars.

Record-Breaking Milestones and Company Valuation

If the CEO meets the lofty milestones outlined in the remuneration deal presented at Tesla's annual meeting, he could emerge as the first-ever trillionaire. For this to happen, he must steer Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in market capitalization, which is eight times its current valuation. Moreover, he will be tasked to launch numerous self-driving cars and bipedal machines, while upholding the company's bottom line in the massive revenue figures in the upcoming decade.

Compensation Structure

The key aims of the compensation plan, organized into a dozen phases, delineate a trajectory for Tesla to attain its massive valuation. Upon achievement, Musk would be in a position to cash in an further 12% of the corporation's shares. For this to occur, he must remain vested with the company for at least 7.5 years. Additionally, he must help develop a long-term succession plan for the organization he has headed for over 20 years. The equity incentives offered by the latest pay package, in addition to shares assured in his 2018 package, would leave Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's shares. In early November, Tesla equity was priced close to its yearly maximum, at around $450 per share.

Lofty Goals

Over the course of a ten years, Musk will be obligated to deliver 20 million zero-emission cars to customers, distribute 10 million live FSD memberships, produce and launch 1 million advanced androids, and launch 1 million robotaxis in revenue-generating use.

Musk will furthermore be obligated to bring the company to $400 billion in tangible revenue for a full year. Tesla's actual earnings for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, down 9% from the previous year.

By November, Musk's fortune was pegged at $460 billion, the leading in the globe, according to financial data.

Reinstating a Revoked Package

Investors are furthermore considering a proposal that would remunerate Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was overturned by a judicial body in Delaware. The compensation package, estimated to be $56 billion, was disputed by a sole shareholder who prevailed in court. The Delaware judicial system denied Musk's remuneration deal on two occasions. Should investors pass the plan in the Thursday ballot, Musk is expected to be paid the massive amount irrespective of whether Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the lawsuit.

After Musk's 2018 pay package was initially invalidated, he relocated Tesla's legal headquarters out of Delaware and into Texas. He repeated the action with the rocket firm and additional corporate bases. In last year, per Texas statutes, shareholders for a second time approved the pay package.

But Delaware's so-called "court of equity" once again ruled against one of the most substantial CEO pay deals in contemporary business. In the wake of that adverse judgment, Musk took to social media to show frustration with the state and its "prominent judicial figure", arguably igniting a number of company relocations that Delaware officials have sought to curb with legislation.

In considering whether Musk had undue influence in being granted that 2018 pay package, a prominent legal scholar observed that the judge acknowledged that other "superstar CEOs" like Facebook's founder and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were not given this kind of performance-linked deals.