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Tesla shareholders gathered on Thursday to determine on a enormous remuneration plan for the company's leader estimated at around $1 trillion. Should it pass, this deal would signal investor confidence that the billionaire can lead the car company into an era shaped by AI technology and robotics. Should it fail, Tesla could potentially face the exit of a visionary leader who once made the corporation synonymous with zero-emission cars.

Record-Breaking Targets and Company Valuation

If the CEO meets the lofty objectives detailed in the pay package introduced at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could become the pioneering trillionaire. To reach this goal, he must lead Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in market capitalization, which is an eightfold increase its current valuation. Furthermore, he will be obligated to launch numerous driverless automobiles and advanced androids, while sustaining the corporate profits in the hundreds of billions of dollars in the upcoming decade.

Payment Breakdown

The primary objectives of the pay package, organized into twelve stages, chart a path for Tesla to attain its massive worth. Upon achievement, Musk would be in a position to benefit from an further 12% of the company's stock. To qualify, he must remain vested with the firm for at least 7.5 years. Furthermore, he is required to help develop a future leadership strategy for the business he has led for more than 20 years. The share grants provided by the updated remuneration deal, combined with shares guaranteed in his earlier deal, would grant Musk with 25 percent equity of Tesla's stock. As of early November, Tesla stock was trading close to its annual peak, at approximately $450 per stock.

Formidable Objectives

Over the course of a ten years, Musk will be tasked to deliver 20 million EVs to buyers, sell 10 million live FSD memberships, produce and launch 1 million advanced androids, and launch 1 million autonomous taxis in revenue-generating use.

Musk will also be obligated to bring the company to $400 billion in real profits for a full year. Tesla's actual earnings for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, a 9% decrease from the previous year.

By November, Musk's net worth was estimated at $460 billion, the leading in the world, based on financial data.

Reviving a Invalidated Package

Shareholders are also reviewing a proposal that would reward Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was invalidated by a judicial body in Delaware. The remuneration deal, worth an estimated $56 billion, was disputed by a sole shareholder who succeeded legally. The Delaware court of chancery denied Musk's remuneration deal on two occasions. If shareholders approve the proposal in the Thursday ballot, Musk is likely to be paid the huge sum whether or not Tesla and Musk overturn the ruling of the lawsuit.

Following Musk's earlier remuneration deal was initially invalidated, he relocated Tesla's corporate home out of Delaware and into Texas. He did the same with SpaceX and additional corporate bases. In last year, under Texas law, shareholders once again voted to approve the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's known as "equity court" once again denied one of the biggest CEO pay deals in modern history. In the wake of that unfavorable ruling, Musk used online platforms to express dissatisfaction with the state and its "prominent judicial figure", possibly fueling a number of company relocations that Delaware legislators have sought to curb with regulatory measures.

In evaluating whether Musk had undue influence in being given that 2018 pay package, a prominent law professor observed that the court acknowledged that other "celebrity leaders" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and the e-commerce pioneer were not awarded this kind of incentive-based contracts.