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Investors in the electric car maker gathered this Thursday to decide on a enormous pay deal for the company's leader estimated at nearly $1 trillion. If approved, this plan would demonstrate market faith that the entrepreneur can lead the car company into an age defined by machine learning and robotics. If denied, Tesla could risk the departure of a visionary leader who historically built the corporation synonymous with zero-emission cars.

Record-Breaking Milestones and Company Valuation

If the CEO meets the ambitious objectives detailed in the pay package introduced at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could be crowned the first-ever person with a trillion-dollar net worth. For this to happen, he must guide Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in market capitalization, which is an eightfold increase its present worth. Moreover, he will be tasked to deploy numerous driverless automobiles and bipedal machines, while upholding the company's bottom line in the hundreds of billions over the next decade.

Reward System

The key aims of the remuneration structure, divided into a dozen phases, chart a roadmap for Tesla to achieve its colossal market capitalization. If successful, Musk would be in a position to realize gains on an additional 12% of the corporation's shares. To qualify, he must remain vested with the firm for a minimum of 7.5 years. He will also help develop a long-term succession plan for the organization he has led for more than 20 years. The equity incentives offered by the new compensation plan, combined with shares guaranteed in his previous compensation plan, would grant Musk with 25 percent equity of Tesla's stock. In early November, Tesla shares were valued approaching its 52-week high, at approximately $450 per stock.

Formidable Objectives

Throughout a ten years, Musk will be obligated to produce 20 million EVs to consumers, market 10 million operational autonomous driving plans, develop and sell 1 million bipedal machines, and launch 1 million autonomous taxis in commercial service.

Musk will furthermore be tasked to bring the company to $400 billion in real profits for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's real profits for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, down 9% from the same period last year.

In November, Musk's net worth was pegged at $460 billion, the highest in the world, based on market tracking.

Restoring a Invalidated Plan

Investors are also reviewing a proposal that would remunerate Musk after his earlier remuneration deal was voided by a judicial body in Delaware. The compensation package, estimated to be $56 billion, was disputed by a individual investor who won his case. The Delaware court of chancery dismissed Musk's remuneration deal twice. If shareholders approve the plan in the Thursday ballot, Musk is set to be granted the substantial payout regardless of if Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the legal matter.

Following Musk's 2018 pay package was originally overturned, he relocated Tesla's legal headquarters to Texas from Delaware. He did the same with SpaceX and other business entities. In 2024, per Texas statutes, shareholders once again voted to approve the pay package.

But Delaware's so-called "equity court" once again rejected one of the biggest CEO payouts in contemporary business. In the wake of that negative decision, Musk took to social media to voice displeasure with the jurisdiction and its "activist chief judge", perhaps sparking a number of company relocations that Delaware officials have tried to stop with regulatory measures.

In reviewing whether Musk had improper sway in being given that previous compensation plan, a respected academic expert observed that the court acknowledged that other "high-profile executives" like the Meta chief and the Amazon founder were not granted this type of performance-linked deals.