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Tesla shareholders assembled on Thursday to determine on a substantial compensation package for CEO Elon Musk worth approximately nearly $1 trillion. If approved, this package would signal market faith that the billionaire can lead the vehicle manufacturer into an era shaped by artificial intelligence and automation. Should it fail, Tesla could risk the exit of a pioneering CEO who once made the brand interchangeable with electric vehicles.

Record-Breaking Targets and Company Valuation

If the CEO meets the formidable objectives outlined in the compensation plan revealed at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could emerge as the world's first trillionaire. To reach this goal, he must steer Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in market value, which is eight times its present worth. Moreover, he will be required to deploy millions autonomous vehicles and bipedal machines, while maintaining the financial performance in the massive revenue figures over the next decade.

Reward System

The main goals of the compensation plan, divided into 12 tranches, delineate a trajectory for Tesla to achieve its enormous worth. Upon achievement, Musk would be in a position to cash in an further 12% of the company's stock. To be eligible, he must remain vested with the company for a minimum of 7.5 years. Furthermore, he is required to contribute to forming a long-term succession plan for the enterprise he has led for in excess of 20 years. The stock options provided by the new compensation plan, combined with shares guaranteed in his 2018 package, would grant Musk with a quarter stake of Tesla's stock. By the start of November, Tesla stock was trading approaching its yearly maximum, at roughly $450 each share.

Formidable Objectives

During a ten years, Musk will be required to manufacture 20 million EVs to customers, sell 10 million active full self-driving subscriptions, develop and sell 1 million humanoid robots, and introduce 1 million self-driving cabs in paid operations.

Musk will also be tasked to elevate the firm to $400 billion in actual earnings for four straight quarters. Tesla's actual earnings for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, down 9% from the year before.

As of November, Musk's personal wealth was pegged at $460 billion, the leading in the planet, as reported by financial data.

Reviving a Rescinded Deal

Shareholders are also considering a plan that would compensate Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was invalidated by a judicial body in Delaware. The remuneration deal, estimated to be $56 billion, was disputed by a individual investor who prevailed in court. The Delaware court of chancery denied Musk's remuneration deal twice. If shareholders approve the arrangement in the shareholder meeting, Musk is set to be awarded the huge sum regardless of if Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the case.

After Musk's earlier remuneration deal was first rescinded, he moved Tesla's business registration to Texas from Delaware. He repeated the action with his aerospace company and other companies' headquarters. In last year, under Texas law, shareholders again passed the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's often referred to as "judicial body" once again denied one of the largest CEO pay deals in modern history. In the wake of that negative decision, Musk used online platforms to express dissatisfaction with the state and its "influential presiding justice", arguably sparking a wave of business departures that Delaware officials have attempted to staunch with legislation.

In reviewing whether Musk had undue influence in being granted that earlier remuneration deal, a respected legal scholar observed that the court recognized that other "celebrity leaders" like Facebook's founder and the e-commerce pioneer were not awarded this sort of performance-linked deals.