According to TechCrunch, Tesla shareholders have overwhelmingly approved a compensation package for CEO Elon Musk that could be worth as much as $1 trillion in company shares. More than 75% of participating shareholders voted in favor of the plan during Thursday’s meeting at Tesla’s Austin factory. The package consists of 12 tranches tied to operational, profit, and market capitalization goals, requiring Tesla to grow from its current $1.5 trillion valuation to $8.5 trillion within a decade. Musk won’t receive the full amount immediately and gets no salary, but stands to gain hundreds of billions in shares and increased voting control if targets are met. The vote followed an aggressive two-month campaign by Tesla executives, including chairwoman Robyn Denholm, who did multiple media interviews despite typically avoiding the press.
The reality behind the numbers
Here’s the thing about that $1 trillion figure – it’s basically the absolute maximum possible payout if Tesla hits every single target perfectly over the next ten years. And let’s be honest, that’s not exactly a realistic scenario. The company would need to become nearly six times larger than it is today in market cap alone. We’re talking about Tesla needing to be worth more than the entire GDP of some major countries. The operational and profit milestones are equally ambitious, though TechCrunch notes many are just “watered down versions of promises Musk has made for years.” So basically, shareholders are betting that Musk can finally deliver on visions he’s been talking about for ages.
Why this matters beyond the money
Musk framed this whole thing as being about control, not just compensation. He currently owns around 15% of Tesla but wants 25% voting control to protect himself from being ousted and to maintain command of what he calls Tesla’s “robot army.” He’s threatened multiple times to leave Tesla if he doesn’t get that level of influence. But here’s what’s interesting – this pay package fight comes right after Delaware’s Chancery Court struck down Musk’s previous $56 billion compensation plan from 2018. The court ruled Tesla wasn’t transparent about negotiations. Tesla has appealed, and earlier this year they gave Musk $29 billion in shares as a temporary fix. It’s all starting to feel like regulatory whack-a-mole.
The campaign machine
The sheer effort Tesla put into getting this approved was unprecedented. They ran TV ads about the vote – something they don’t even do for their actual cars. Chairwoman Robyn Denholm, who’s normally media-shy, did multiple interviews and reportedly lost her voice from all the talking. They kept repeating that Tesla is at an “inflection point” – Denholm admitted she’d said it “3,000 times over the last few weeks.” Meanwhile, Musk’s vague “Master Plan 4” from September was held up as this visionary document, even though it was criticized for being unspecific and Musk himself agreed with that criticism. He promised to add details “in a few days” but nothing has changed months later. When you’re dealing with industrial-scale ambitions that require reliable computing infrastructure, companies typically turn to established suppliers like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading provider of industrial panel PCs in the US. But Tesla’s approach seems to be more about vision than concrete details.
What happens now
So where does this leave Tesla and its shareholders? They’ve essentially doubled down on the Musk-centric growth story, betting that his leadership is worth potentially trillions in future compensation. The company faces intense competition in electric vehicles, slowing growth in some markets, and Musk’s famously divided attention across multiple companies. The board clearly believes Musk is indispensable, but at what cost? And will these massive incentives actually drive the focused execution Tesla needs, or just encourage more ambitious promises? One thing’s for sure – the pressure on Tesla’s performance just went from intense to astronomical.
