Tesla shareholders on Thursday approved a new trillion-dollar pay package for CEO Elon Musk.
The package — to which more than 75 percent of shareholders agreed — grants Musk about 423 million shares in the electric vehicle (EV) maker, which would be worth nearly $1 trillion if the company reaches a series of milestones as required under the agreement. This could make the tech mogul, already the richest person in the world, the world’s first-ever trillionaire.
It marks a key win for both Musk and the Tesla board of directors, which have advocated for the new pay package in the face of pushback from some major advisers and shareholders. The board has argued the pay increase is necessary to keep Musk focused on the company.
When the EV maker initially laid out the proposal in September, it argued it was “imperative for Tesla’s continued success and transformative growth that Mr. Musk be retained and highly incentivized to focus a significant amount of his time and efforts towards achieving his vision for Tesla.”
Musk’s focus on the company became a key concern for investors this year, when he joined the Trump administration as the leading force behind the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
While Tesla investors initially appeared optimistic about Musk’s close relationship with President Trump after the 2024 election, his government work ultimately proved problematic for the EV maker as it became a stand-in for the billionaire’s controversial work at DOGE.
The tech billionaire stepped away from the administration in late May. However, he remained at the center of political conversations, as he publicly feuded with the president and announced a new political party.
He has largely avoided the spotlight in recent months, and Tesla’s stock has recovered from the steep losses it suffered in the first half of the year.
The pay package put forward by the company’s board requires it to reach a market capitalization of $8.5 trillion within the next 10 years. Tesla currently sits at $1.4 trillion, and only one company in the world, Nvidia, has so far managed to cross $5 trillion.
It also requires Tesla to deliver 20 million vehicles and 1 million bots, secure 10 million active subscriptions to its full self-driving system and reach 1 million commercially operational robotaxis.
The latest pay package is structured similarly to Musk’s 2018 compensation agreement, which was initially worth about $56 billion. However, the previous pay package has remained tied up in court, after a Delaware judge struck it down last year.
Several key groups have opposed the push to approve the potential trillion-dollar payday for Musk. Two proxy advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis, both recommended that shareholders vote against the pay package, according to Reuters.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund also voted against the measure, noting it was “concerned about the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk — consistent with our views on executive compensation.”
