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Investors in the electric car maker assembled this Thursday to vote on a massive compensation package for CEO Elon Musk estimated at nearly $1 trillion. Should it pass, this deal would demonstrate investor confidence that the entrepreneur can guide the automaker into an period dominated by artificial intelligence and robotics. If denied, Tesla could risk the departure of a pioneering CEO who historically built the corporation interchangeable with zero-emission cars.

Record-Breaking Goals and Market Capitalization

If the CEO meets the formidable milestones specified in the compensation plan revealed at Tesla's annual meeting, he could emerge as the pioneering person with a trillion-dollar net worth. For this to happen, he must steer Tesla to a monumental $8.5 trillion in market value, which is an eightfold increase its existing market cap. Moreover, he will be obligated to deploy countless self-driving cars and advanced androids, while sustaining the financial performance in the hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.

Compensation Structure

The primary objectives of the remuneration structure, divided into a dozen phases, chart a path for Tesla to reach its enormous worth. Upon achievement, Musk would be in a position to realize gains on an extra 12% of the firm's equity. To be eligible, he must remain vested with the firm for a minimum of 7.5 years. Furthermore, he is required to help develop a long-term succession plan for the enterprise he has managed for over 20 years. The equity incentives provided by the new compensation plan, combined with shares guaranteed in his previous compensation plan, would leave Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's shares. As of early November, Tesla stock was trading near its 52-week high, at approximately $450 per stock.

Lofty Goals

During a decade, Musk will be obligated to deliver 20 million EVs to customers, market 10 million active full self-driving subscriptions, produce and launch 1 million humanoid robots, and introduce 1 million self-driving cabs in paid operations.

Musk will also be required to bring the company to $400 billion in actual earnings for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's real profits for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, a 9% decrease from the same period last year.

By November, Musk's net worth was pegged at $460 billion, the leading in the globe, according to financial data.

Reinstating a Rescinded Deal

Investors are additionally evaluating a plan that would remunerate Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was invalidated by a court in Delaware. The compensation package, estimated to be $56 billion, was contested by a sole shareholder who succeeded legally. The state court denied Musk's compensation plan twice. Upon stockholder approval the plan in Thursday's vote, Musk is set to be granted the huge sum whether or not Tesla and Musk overturn the ruling of the case.

After Musk's previous compensation plan was originally overturned, he transferred Tesla's business registration from Delaware to Texas. He followed suit with the rocket firm and other business entities. In last year, according to Texas regulations, shareholders again passed the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's known as "judicial body" for a second time denied one of the largest CEO payouts in modern history. In the wake of that unfavorable ruling, Musk used online platforms to express dissatisfaction with the jurisdiction and its "influential presiding justice", possibly igniting a series of corporate exits that Delaware lawmakers have tried to stop with new laws.

In considering whether Musk had improper sway in being awarded that 2018 pay package, a noted legal scholar remarked that the judge acknowledged that other "high-profile executives" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were not awarded this type of incentive-based contracts.