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Tesla shareholders gathered this Thursday to vote on a massive remuneration plan for CEO Elon Musk worth approximately nearly $1 trillion. If approved, this plan would showcase investor confidence that the tech magnate can guide the automaker into an period defined by AI technology and automation. Should it fail, Tesla could risk the departure of a visionary leader who once made the company name synonymous with EVs.

Historic Targets and Company Valuation

Should Musk achieve the ambitious targets detailed in the compensation plan introduced at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could become the first-ever trillionaire. To accomplish this, he must lead Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in market value, which is 800% of its existing market cap. Furthermore, he will be obligated to roll out numerous autonomous vehicles and bipedal machines, while sustaining the company's bottom line in the massive revenue figures in the upcoming decade.

Reward System

The main goals of the remuneration structure, split into twelve stages, delineate a roadmap for Tesla to reach its enormous worth. Should targets be met, Musk would be able to benefit from an additional 12% of the firm's equity. For this to occur, he must stay committed with the firm for a minimum of 7.5 years. Additionally, he must contribute to forming a future leadership strategy for the business he has managed for more than 20 years. The stock options offered by the new compensation plan, in addition to shares guaranteed in his previous compensation plan, would grant Musk with 25 percent equity of Tesla's shares. By the start of November, Tesla shares were valued close to its annual peak, at around $450 per share.

Ambitious Targets

Over the course of a ten years, Musk will be tasked to manufacture 20 million zero-emission cars to customers, market 10 million live FSD memberships, create and distribute 1 million advanced androids, and deploy 1 million self-driving cabs in paid operations.

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

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

Restoring a Invalidated Package

Shareholders are additionally considering a arrangement that would reward Musk after his earlier remuneration deal was invalidated by a legal authority in Delaware. The pay plan, estimated to be $56 billion, was disputed by a sole shareholder who won his case. The Delaware judicial system dismissed Musk's remuneration deal on two occasions. Upon stockholder approval the arrangement in the Thursday ballot, Musk is set to be paid the huge sum irrespective of whether Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the lawsuit.

After Musk's earlier remuneration deal was initially invalidated, he relocated Tesla's legal headquarters out of Delaware and into Texas. He repeated the action with SpaceX and other companies' headquarters. In 2024, under Texas law, shareholders once again approved the compensation plan.

But Delaware's known as "court of equity" once again denied one of the largest CEO payouts in contemporary business. In the wake of that negative decision, Musk posted on his accounts to voice displeasure with the jurisdiction and its "influential presiding justice", perhaps sparking a number of company relocations that Delaware lawmakers have tried to stop with legislation.

In considering whether Musk had undue influence in being granted that previous compensation plan, a noted legal scholar remarked that the judicial authority noted that other "superstar CEOs" like Facebook's founder and the e-commerce pioneer were not given this type of goal-oriented agreements.