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Tesla shareholders gathered on Thursday to determine on a massive remuneration plan for CEO Elon Musk valued at around $1 trillion. Should it pass, this package would demonstrate investor confidence that the entrepreneur can guide the car company into an era shaped by machine learning and robotics. If rejected, Tesla could risk the loss of a key figure who historically built the company name interchangeable with EVs.

Record-Breaking Targets and Company Valuation

Should Musk achieve the ambitious objectives outlined in the pay package introduced at Tesla's annual meeting, he could become the world's first trillionaire. To reach this goal, he must guide Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in market capitalization, which is an eightfold increase its current valuation. Additionally, he will be required to deploy countless self-driving cars and humanoid robots, while maintaining the company's bottom line in the hundreds of billions throughout the coming ten years.

Reward System

The primary objectives of the remuneration structure, split into 12 tranches, chart a roadmap for Tesla to reach its enormous valuation. Upon achievement, Musk would be able to realize gains on an extra 12% of the firm's equity. For this to occur, he must remain vested with the corporation for a minimum of 7.5 years. Additionally, he must contribute to forming a corporate transition roadmap for the business he has led for over 20 years. The stock options provided by the new compensation plan, combined with shares promised in his previous compensation plan, would leave Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's shares. By the start of November, Tesla stock was trading approaching its annual peak, at around $450 per share.

Ambitious Targets

Over the course of a decade, Musk will be tasked to manufacture 20 million EVs to customers, distribute 10 million live FSD memberships, develop and sell 1 million bipedal machines, and deploy 1 million robotaxis in revenue-generating use.

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

By November, Musk's fortune was valued at $460 billion, the highest in the world, as reported by market tracking.

Restoring a Invalidated Deal

Shareholders are furthermore reviewing a proposal that would reward Musk after his earlier remuneration deal was voided by a judicial body in Delaware. The compensation package, estimated to be $56 billion, was contested by a individual investor who prevailed in court. The Delaware court of chancery denied Musk's remuneration deal on two occasions. If shareholders approve the plan in the shareholder meeting, Musk is expected to be awarded the huge sum whether or not Tesla and Musk overturn the ruling of the legal matter.

Subsequent to Musk's 2018 pay package was first rescinded, he moved Tesla's legal headquarters out of Delaware and into Texas. He repeated the action with the rocket firm and other business entities. In the previous year, per Texas statutes, shareholders for a second time voted to approve the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's known as "court of equity" for a second time rejected one of the most substantial CEO payouts in recent times. In the wake of that adverse judgment, Musk used online platforms to voice displeasure with the jurisdiction and its "influential presiding justice", perhaps fueling a series of corporate exits that Delaware lawmakers have attempted to staunch with regulatory measures.

In considering whether Musk had improper sway in being awarded that earlier remuneration deal, a respected academic expert observed that the court recognized that other "superstar CEOs" like the Meta chief and the Amazon founder were not given this type of incentive-based contracts.