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Tesla shareholders convened this Thursday to determine on a massive compensation package for the company's leader worth approximately close to $1 trillion. Should it pass, this plan would showcase investor confidence that the tech magnate can steer the vehicle manufacturer into an age dominated by machine learning and automation. Should it fail, Tesla could potentially face the departure of a pioneering CEO who once made the brand equivalent with EVs.

Record-Breaking Milestones and Company Valuation

Should Musk achieve the lofty milestones outlined in the compensation plan revealed at Tesla's annual meeting, he could become the world's first trillionaire. To accomplish this, he must guide Tesla to a monumental $8.5 trillion in market value, which is 800% of its existing market cap. Additionally, he will be tasked to deploy numerous autonomous vehicles and bipedal machines, while upholding the corporate profits in the hundreds of billions of dollars throughout the coming ten years.

Reward System

The primary objectives of the remuneration structure, split into twelve stages, delineate a trajectory for Tesla to achieve its massive worth. If successful, Musk would be eligible to cash in an extra 12% of the corporation's shares. To qualify, he must remain vested with the company for at least 7.5 years. Furthermore, he is required to contribute to forming a long-term succession plan for the business he has led for more than 20 years. The share grants provided by the new compensation plan, combined with shares promised in his earlier deal, would leave Musk with a quarter stake of Tesla's stock. By the start of November, Tesla stock was trading close to its yearly maximum, at around $450 per share.

Formidable Objectives

During a decade, Musk will be tasked to produce 20 million electric vehicles to customers, sell 10 million live FSD memberships, produce and launch 1 million bipedal machines, and introduce 1 million robotaxis in paid operations.

Musk will additionally be obligated to increase the company to $400 billion in real profits for a full year. Tesla's actual earnings for the July-September 2025 were $4.2 billion, 9 percent lower from the previous year.

As of November, Musk's net worth was valued at $460 billion, the highest in the globe, based on wealth indexes.

Reviving a Revoked Deal

Stockholders are furthermore reviewing a proposal that would compensate Musk after his 2018 compensation plan was overturned by a judicial body in Delaware. The compensation package, valued at around $56 billion, was challenged by a single stockholder who prevailed in court. The Delaware court of chancery denied Musk's pay package on multiple instances. If shareholders approve the proposal in Thursday's vote, Musk is likely to be awarded the huge sum whether or not Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the lawsuit.

Subsequent to Musk's previous compensation plan was first rescinded, he relocated Tesla's business registration out of Delaware and into Texas. He repeated the action with his aerospace company and additional corporate bases. In last year, under Texas law, shareholders once again voted to approve the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's so-called "equity court" once again ruled against one of the biggest CEO pay deals in contemporary business. After that negative decision, Musk took to social media to voice displeasure with the region and its "prominent judicial figure", perhaps sparking a number of company relocations that Delaware lawmakers have tried to stop with new laws.

In reviewing whether Musk had undue influence in being given that previous compensation plan, a prominent academic expert commented that the judicial authority acknowledged that other "celebrity leaders" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and the e-commerce pioneer were not given this type of goal-oriented agreements.