At its annual meeting in Texas, Tesla shareholders approved CEO Elon Musk’s nearly $1 trillion pay plan with more than 75% voting in favor. The record-breaking package reflects both investors’ confidence and the massive risks tied to Musk’s audacious vision.
At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting held on November 6, 2025, in Austin, Texas, history was made: over 75% of shareholders voted in favor of a record-breaking pay package worth nearly $1 trillion for CEO Elon Musk — the largest executive compensation proposal in corporate history.
According to Reuters, the plan consists of 12 tranches of stock awards that will vest only if Tesla meets specific market capitalization and performance milestones over the next decade. If all targets are achieved, the plan’s total value could reach $878 billion to $1 trillion, depending on Tesla’s stock performance.
More than a pay plan, this package represents Tesla’s roadmap for its next era of growth — one that stretches far beyond electric vehicles.
The performance targets set for Musk are nothing short of extraordinary:
Market capitalization must rise to $8.5 trillion, up from today’s roughly $1.54 trillion.
Annual adjusted profits must grow from around $20 billion today to $400 billion.
Vehicle production must reach 20 million units per year, far surpassing the entire current global auto industry.
1 million robotaxis, 10 million Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscriptions, and 1 million Optimus humanoid robots must be commercially deployed.
While critics call these goals “nearly impossible,” supporters argue that Elon Musk has a track record of turning the impossible into reality — transforming electric cars from a niche experiment into a trillion-dollar revolution.
Today, Musk leads five major technology ventures — Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI (merged with the social platform X).
This multi-company dominance has made him the world’s richest person, and if the new plan pays out in full, he could become the first individual in history to reach a $1 trillion personal fortune.
However, many investors worry that Musk’s simultaneous leadership roles could dilute his focus on Tesla. Notably, the pay package does not require Musk to spend a minimum amount of time working at Tesla, nor does it limit his political activities — an issue that has drawn controversy in recent years.
A recent National Bureau of Economic Research study estimated that Tesla’s U.S. sales between late 2022 and early 2024 could have been 67% to 83% higher without Musk’s divisive political actions.
Before the vote, leading proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and ISS urged shareholders to vote against the plan, citing its immense scale, lack of performance safeguards, and the potential for Musk to consolidate too much power.
If all tranches vest, Musk’s stake in Tesla would increase from 13% to about 25%, adding over 423 million new shares — giving him near-dominant voting control.
Major institutional investors such as Norway’s sovereign wealth fund (Norges Bank Investment Management) also announced opposition. Still, a vast majority of individual and institutional shareholders sided with Musk, viewing him as Tesla’s irreplaceable visionary.
Despite overwhelming approval, analysts warn that the pay plan introduces significant financial and governance risks.
First, the performance goals may simply be too ambitious. To hit an $8.5 trillion market cap, Tesla would need to increase its valuation by over 500%, essentially equaling the combined worth of the world’s largest automakers.
Second, boosting Musk’s ownership to 25% would concentrate power, potentially weakening board oversight and minority shareholder rights.
Third, Tesla’s extreme dependence on Musk remains a structural risk. The company’s stock has historically reacted sharply to his public statements, tweets, or abrupt strategic shifts.
Yet, with high risk comes high reward. Musk insists Tesla is no longer merely an automaker — it’s evolving into a full-stack technology, robotics, and AI powerhouse.
At the shareholder meeting, Musk boldly claimed that Tesla’s Optimus robots “will end poverty, provide universal medical care, and become bigger than cell phones.”
Though such statements drew skepticism, they reveal Musk’s unrelenting drive to make Tesla the leader of a coming automation revolution.
As of now, no commercial Optimus robots exist, and Tesla has not disclosed a launch timeline. Analysts see this package as a mechanism to push Tesla — and Musk himself — to pursue exponential innovation rather than incremental growth.
The new package comes after a Delaware court struck down Musk’s 2018 pay plan, ruling that it was improperly approved by Tesla’s board. Musk has appealed the decision to the Delaware Supreme Court, with a final judgment still pending.
This time, Tesla’s board took extra precautions — engaging shareholders early, disclosing the plan’s details publicly, and emphasizing transparency.
Nevertheless, legal uncertainty lingers, particularly if Tesla fails to meet its performance targets or if Musk’s influence is later deemed excessive.
Approving Musk’s trillion-dollar package may be the boldest corporate gamble of the 21st century — a declaration of faith in one man’s ability to redefine not just Tesla, but the future of technology itself.
For investors, it’s both an act of conviction and a test of limits. Can Musk deliver exponential growth while juggling multiple empires? Or will this become a cautionary tale of corporate hero worship in the AI era?
In the short term, Tesla’s share price could benefit from investor optimism. But over the long run, the company’s fate — and its shareholders’ wealth — hinge on whether Musk can truly turn his sweeping promises into measurable performance.
From a scrappy electric car startup to a global AI-robotics contender, Tesla’s destiny remains tied to Elon Musk’s audacious vision.
Whether this trillion-dollar bet becomes a triumph of innovation or a lesson in overreach will define the next decade of business history.
1. Is Elon Musk’s pay plan really worth $1 trillion?
Not immediately. Reuters estimates its current potential value at $878 billion, but it could reach $1 trillion if all milestones are met and Tesla’s stock continues to soar.
2. Why did some major shareholders vote against it?
Proxy advisors and large funds objected to the scale of the reward, limited accountability clauses, and Musk’s increasing dominance over Tesla’s governance structure.
3. What must Musk achieve to unlock the full package?
He must guide Tesla to achieve $8.5 trillion in market value, $400 billion in annual profit, 20 million vehicle deliveries, 1 million robotaxis, and 1 million Optimus robots.
4. Would this make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire?
Yes — if Tesla reaches all targets, Musk’s personal net worth could surpass $1 trillion, making him the richest individual in recorded history.
.png){kind=logo}
Tiếng Việt
English
