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Investors in the electric car maker gathered on Thursday to decide on a massive remuneration plan for CEO Elon Musk estimated at around $1 trillion. Upon approval, this plan would signal market faith that the entrepreneur can lead the automaker into an period dominated by artificial intelligence and automation. If rejected, Tesla could risk the exit of a key figure who once made the corporation synonymous with EVs.

Historic Targets and Company Valuation

If the CEO meets the ambitious milestones specified in the remuneration deal revealed at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could emerge as the world's first person with a trillion-dollar net worth. To reach this goal, he must lead Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in market value, which is an eightfold increase its existing market cap. Furthermore, he will be required to launch countless self-driving cars and advanced androids, while maintaining the financial performance in the hundreds of billions throughout the coming ten years.

Payment Breakdown

The primary objectives of the compensation plan, split into a dozen phases, outline a roadmap for Tesla to reach its massive valuation. Should targets be met, Musk would be eligible to benefit from an further 12% of the corporation's shares. To be eligible, he must stay committed with the corporation for a minimum of 7.5 years. Additionally, he must help develop a long-term succession plan for the organization he has led for in excess of 20 years. The share grants awarded by the updated remuneration deal, combined with shares assured in his previous compensation plan, would leave Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's stock. As of early November, Tesla shares were valued near its 52-week high, at around $450 per share.

Lofty Goals

Over the course of a ten-year period, Musk will be obligated to produce 20 million EVs to customers, distribute 10 million live FSD memberships, produce and launch 1 million advanced androids, and introduce 1 million self-driving cabs in commercial service.

Musk will also be obligated to elevate the company to $400 billion in tangible revenue for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's real profits for the Q3 2025 were $4.2 billion, 9 percent lower from the previous year.

As of November, Musk's fortune was estimated at $460 billion, the top in the planet, according to market tracking.

Reviving a Revoked Deal

Investors are additionally evaluating a proposal that would compensate Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was voided by a judicial body in Delaware. The remuneration deal, worth an estimated $56 billion, was contested by a single stockholder who succeeded legally. The state court denied Musk's pay package on multiple instances. If shareholders approve the proposal in Thursday's vote, Musk is expected to be paid the huge sum whether or not Tesla and Musk win an appeal of the legal matter.

After Musk's previous compensation plan was initially invalidated, he transferred Tesla's business registration from Delaware to Texas. He did the same with SpaceX and other business entities. In last year, per Texas statutes, shareholders for a second time passed the pay package.

But Delaware's so-called "court of equity" again rejected one of the biggest CEO payouts in recent times. In the wake of that unfavorable ruling, Musk took to social media to express dissatisfaction with the state and its "influential presiding justice", perhaps igniting a number of company relocations that Delaware officials have tried to stop with new laws.

In reviewing whether Musk had improper sway in being granted that 2018 pay package, a noted legal scholar remarked that the judicial authority acknowledged that other "high-profile executives" like the Meta chief and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were not granted this type of goal-oriented agreements.