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Investors in the electric car maker gathered this Thursday to decide on a massive compensation package for Chief Executive Elon Musk estimated at close to $1 trillion. Should it pass, this deal would signal market faith that the billionaire can steer the car company into an age defined by machine learning and advanced machinery. If denied, Tesla could potentially face the exit of a visionary leader who historically built the brand interchangeable with electric vehicles.

Historic Milestones and Market Capitalization

If the CEO meets the lofty milestones specified in the pay package revealed at Tesla's shareholder gathering, he could emerge as the pioneering trillionaire. For this to happen, he must guide Tesla to a astronomical $8.5 trillion in market value, which is an eightfold increase its existing market cap. Furthermore, he will be required to deploy millions self-driving cars and bipedal machines, while sustaining the corporate profits in the hundreds of billions of dollars in the upcoming decade.

Payment Breakdown

The main goals of the pay package, split into twelve stages, delineate a path for Tesla to achieve its colossal worth. If successful, Musk would be eligible to realize gains on an extra 12% of the firm's equity. To qualify, he must maintain involvement with the company for at least 7.5 years. He will also help develop a future leadership strategy for the enterprise he has managed for more than 20 years. The stock options offered by the new compensation plan, alongside shares assured in his previous compensation plan, would leave Musk with 25 percent equity of Tesla's shares. In early November, Tesla shares were valued approaching its annual peak, at roughly $450 per share.

Ambitious Targets

During a ten-year period, Musk will be required to manufacture 20 million zero-emission cars to consumers, sell 10 million live FSD memberships, create and distribute 1 million bipedal machines, and deploy 1 million self-driving cabs in paid operations.

Musk will also be tasked to elevate the company to $400 billion in tangible revenue for four straight quarters. Tesla's real profits for the July-September 2025 were $4.2 billion, a 9% decrease from the same period last year.

In November, Musk's net worth was estimated at $460 billion, the leading in the world, as reported by financial data.

Restoring a Invalidated Package

Shareholders are additionally reviewing a plan that would remunerate Musk after his earlier remuneration deal was voided by a judicial body in Delaware. The pay plan, estimated to be $56 billion, was contested by a sole shareholder who won his case. The Delaware court of chancery dismissed Musk's remuneration deal twice. Should investors pass the arrangement in the Thursday ballot, Musk is set to be awarded the substantial payout whether or not Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the lawsuit.

After Musk's 2018 pay package was originally overturned, he transferred Tesla's corporate home from Delaware to Texas. He repeated the action with his aerospace company and other companies' headquarters. In 2024, according to Texas regulations, shareholders again passed the pay package.

But Delaware's known as "judicial body" for a second time denied one of the most substantial CEO pay deals in modern history. After that negative decision, Musk used online platforms to voice displeasure with the state and its "prominent judicial figure", possibly fueling a wave of business departures that Delaware lawmakers have attempted to staunch with regulatory measures.

In considering whether Musk had excessive control in being granted that 2018 pay package, a noted legal scholar observed that the court noted that other "celebrity leaders" like the Meta chief and the Amazon founder were not given this type of incentive-based contracts.