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Investors in the electric car maker convened on Thursday to vote on a enormous pay deal for the company's leader estimated at around $1 trillion. Should it pass, this deal would demonstrate shareholder trust that the billionaire can guide the vehicle manufacturer into an period shaped by artificial intelligence and automation. If denied, Tesla could risk the loss of a pioneering CEO who once made the brand synonymous with EVs.

Historic Goals and Market Capitalization

If the CEO meets the formidable milestones outlined in the compensation plan revealed at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could be crowned the pioneering person with a trillion-dollar net worth. To accomplish this, he must guide Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in market capitalization, which is 800% of its current valuation. Furthermore, he will be tasked to roll out millions self-driving cars and bipedal machines, while upholding the company's bottom line in the hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.

Reward System

The main goals of the remuneration structure, organized into 12 tranches, outline a roadmap for Tesla to reach its massive market capitalization. Upon achievement, Musk would be able to cash in an further 12% of the corporation's shares. To qualify, he must maintain involvement with the corporation for a minimum of 7.5 years. He will also contribute to forming a future leadership strategy for the organization he has managed for over 20 years. The share grants provided by the latest pay package, alongside shares promised in his 2018 package, would grant Musk with 25 percent equity of Tesla's stock. By the start of November, Tesla shares were valued approaching its 52-week high, at approximately $450 per share.

Lofty Goals

Throughout a ten-year period, Musk will be obligated to deliver 20 million electric vehicles to consumers, sell 10 million active full self-driving subscriptions, develop and sell 1 million advanced androids, and launch 1 million self-driving cabs in revenue-generating use.

Musk will additionally be required to elevate the firm to $400 billion in tangible revenue for a full year. Tesla's real profits for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, down 9% from the same period last year.

By November, Musk's net worth was estimated at $460 billion, the highest in the globe, according to wealth indexes.

Reinstating a Rescinded Deal

Shareholders are also evaluating a arrangement that would compensate Musk after his earlier remuneration deal was voided by a legal authority in Delaware. The pay plan, valued at around $56 billion, was disputed by a sole shareholder who prevailed in court. The Delaware court of chancery rejected Musk's remuneration deal on multiple instances. Should investors pass the proposal in the Thursday ballot, Musk is set to be paid the massive amount regardless of if Tesla and Musk win an appeal of the lawsuit.

After Musk's 2018 pay package was initially invalidated, he relocated Tesla's corporate home out of Delaware and into Texas. He did the same with his aerospace company and other companies' headquarters. In the previous year, per Texas statutes, shareholders again approved the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's so-called "court of equity" again rejected one of the biggest CEO payouts in contemporary business. In the wake of that unfavorable ruling, Musk posted on his accounts to voice displeasure with the region and its "prominent judicial figure", arguably fueling a wave of business departures that Delaware legislators have sought to curb with legislation.

In reviewing whether Musk had improper sway in being given that previous compensation plan, a prominent academic expert observed that the judge recognized that other "high-profile executives" like the Meta chief and the e-commerce pioneer were not given this kind of goal-oriented agreements.