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Investors in the electric car maker convened this Thursday to determine on a substantial compensation package for Chief Executive Elon Musk valued at around $1 trillion. If approved, this deal would demonstrate investor confidence that the entrepreneur can steer the automaker into an age dominated by machine learning and robotics. If denied, Tesla could potentially face the departure of a pioneering CEO who previously established the corporation synonymous with zero-emission cars.

Record-Breaking Goals and Company Valuation

Upon reaching the formidable milestones specified in the compensation plan revealed at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could emerge as the first-ever trillionaire. To reach this goal, he must lead Tesla to a monumental $8.5 trillion in market value, which is 800% of its current valuation. Additionally, he will be tasked to roll out numerous self-driving cars and humanoid robots, while maintaining the company's bottom line in the hundreds of billions of dollars throughout the coming ten years.

Reward System

The main goals of the compensation plan, split into a dozen phases, delineate a trajectory for Tesla to achieve its enormous valuation. Should targets be met, Musk would be able to realize gains on an additional 12% of the firm's equity. For this to occur, he must remain vested with the company for at least 7.5 years. Furthermore, he is required to assist in creating a long-term succession plan for the organization he has led for over 20 years. The equity incentives provided by the new compensation plan, in addition to shares guaranteed in his 2018 package, would result in Musk with 25 percent equity of Tesla's shares. As of early November, Tesla stock was trading approaching its annual peak, at approximately $450 each share.

Ambitious Targets

Over the course of a decade, Musk will be required to manufacture 20 million EVs to consumers, sell 10 million operational autonomous driving plans, produce and launch 1 million bipedal machines, and launch 1 million autonomous taxis in revenue-generating use.

Musk will also be required to increase the corporation to $400 billion in real profits for a full year. Tesla's real profits for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, 9 percent lower from the previous year.

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

Reviving a Invalidated Plan

Investors are additionally reviewing a plan that would remunerate Musk after his earlier remuneration deal was overturned by a court in Delaware. The remuneration deal, valued at around $56 billion, was challenged by a single stockholder who won his case. The Delaware court of chancery denied Musk's pay package twice. Should investors pass the arrangement in Thursday's vote, Musk is expected to be paid the substantial payout irrespective of whether Tesla and Musk win an appeal of the lawsuit.

Following Musk's earlier remuneration deal was originally overturned, he transferred Tesla's corporate home to Texas from Delaware. He followed suit with the rocket firm and additional corporate bases. In last year, according to Texas regulations, shareholders again voted to approve the compensation plan.

But Delaware's so-called "judicial body" again ruled against one of the most substantial CEO pay deals in recent times. In the wake of that adverse judgment, Musk used online platforms to express dissatisfaction with the state and its "influential presiding justice", possibly igniting a series of corporate exits that Delaware legislators have tried to stop with regulatory measures.

In reviewing whether Musk had improper sway in being awarded that previous compensation plan, a noted legal scholar remarked that the judge acknowledged that other "celebrity leaders" like the Meta chief and the e-commerce pioneer were not awarded this sort of performance-linked deals.