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Tesla shareholders assembled this Thursday to vote on a substantial remuneration plan for CEO Elon Musk estimated at close to $1 trillion. Should it pass, this plan would showcase investor confidence that the billionaire can lead the automaker into an era dominated by AI technology and robotics. If denied, Tesla could risk the departure of a pioneering CEO who once made the corporation equivalent with electric vehicles.

Record-Breaking Goals and Company Valuation

If the CEO meets the formidable targets specified in the pay package revealed at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could emerge as the world's first trillionaire. To reach this goal, he must lead Tesla to a monumental $8.5 trillion in market capitalization, which is 800% of its existing market cap. Additionally, he will be required to roll out countless self-driving cars and bipedal machines, while maintaining the financial performance in the hundreds of billions of dollars in the upcoming decade.

Payment Breakdown

The primary objectives of the pay package, organized into a dozen phases, chart a trajectory for Tesla to reach its enormous market capitalization. Should targets be met, Musk would be in a position to benefit from an further 12% of the company's stock. To be eligible, he must remain vested with the company for at least 7.5 years. He will also help develop a long-term succession plan for the organization he has managed for more than 20 years. The stock options provided by the latest pay package, alongside shares guaranteed in his 2018 package, would result in Musk with a quarter stake of Tesla's shares. In early November, Tesla shares were valued near its annual peak, at approximately $450 each share.

Ambitious Targets

During a ten-year period, Musk will be tasked to deliver 20 million zero-emission cars to customers, market 10 million operational autonomous driving plans, create and distribute 1 million bipedal machines, and launch 1 million self-driving cabs in revenue-generating use.

Musk will additionally be obligated to increase the company to $400 billion in tangible revenue for four straight quarters. Tesla's tangible revenue for the Q3 2025 were $4.2 billion, 9 percent lower from the same period last year.

By November, Musk's net worth was pegged at $460 billion, the leading in the world, as reported by market tracking.

Reinstating a Invalidated Deal

Investors are also reviewing a arrangement that would remunerate Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was overturned by a judicial body in Delaware. The pay plan, valued at around $56 billion, was disputed by a sole shareholder who succeeded legally. The state court denied Musk's pay package on multiple instances. If shareholders approve the plan in Thursday's vote, Musk is set to be granted the substantial payout whether or not Tesla and Musk win an appeal of the legal matter.

Subsequent to Musk's earlier remuneration deal was first rescinded, he relocated Tesla's corporate home from Delaware to Texas. He followed suit with his aerospace company and additional corporate bases. In last year, per Texas statutes, shareholders again passed the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's so-called "court of equity" for a second time ruled against one of the largest CEO pay deals in contemporary business. Following that negative decision, Musk used online platforms to voice displeasure with the jurisdiction and its "activist chief judge", possibly fueling a series of corporate exits that Delaware lawmakers have tried to stop with regulatory measures.

In evaluating whether Musk had improper sway in being awarded that previous compensation plan, a noted academic expert observed that the court noted that other "high-profile executives" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and the Amazon founder were not awarded this kind of performance-linked deals.