Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: He is already the world’s richest person with a net worth of USD 491.4 billion. If he delivers on targets in the next 10 years, his electric vehicle (EV) making company will hike his pay package to an unprecedented USD 1 trillion–nearly a fourth of India’s total GDP (USD 3.91 trillion) in 2024!
On Thursday, Tesla, Inc. shareholders approved a record-breaking pay out, ever awarded to any corporate leader in the world, that could make its founder and CEO Elon Musk a trillionaire—provided he delivers a future filled with self-driving taxis and humanoid robots.
More than 75 percent of shareholders backed the plan which requires him to substantially raise Tesla’s market value in 10 years. The outcome capped a long campaign by the EV maker’s board, its Musk himself, and key retail investors to build support, the media reported.
The pay deal clears a path for Musk to become the first-ever trillionaire on the planet, and expand his stake in Tesla to 25 percent or more over the next decade. To achieve the full pay-out, he will also have to deliver on targets to revive the firm’s flagging car business and get the fledgling robotaxi and Optimus robotics efforts off the ground.
“It’s not just a new chapter for Tesla, it’s a new book,” Musk told shareholders’ cheering crowd. “And that new book is massively increasing vehicle production and ramping up Optimus production faster than anything’s ever been ramped up before in human history.”
The compensation vote became pivotal for Tesla, after Musk said he could step down or spend more time with his other companies (SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), Neuralink, The Boring Company, xAI, etc.) if he didn’t get greater control over the carmaker. He’s now likely to remain the CEO as Tesla pursues an ambitious agenda built around driverless vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI).
Market reaction was, however, muted, at least initially. Tesla shares rose less than 1 percent as of 7:16 p.m. in post-market trading Thursday in New York, paring an earlier gain of as much as 3.4 percent. The stock was up 10 percent this year through Thursday’s close, narrowly trailing the 14 percent advance in the S&P 500 Index.
Musk teased several lofty goals as the company looks to 2026 and beyond.
He, who has led the EV maker since 2008, said that Tesla might end up building a chip factory to get the volume it needs, even as the company works with established suppliers like Samsung and TSMC.
“Even when we extrapolate the best-case scenario for chip production from our suppliers it’s still not enough,” Musk said. “So, I think we may have to do a Tesla terafab. It’s like giga, but way bigger.”
The company, he said, will focus next year on Optimus, the semi-truck and the Cybercab, whose production will be in line with regulatory approval.
Tesla has aspirational goals to boost vehicle production volume by about 50 percent by the end of 2026, he said.
Even after several prominent investors, including Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management, Tesla’s ninth-largest holder, opposed his unheard of pay package, the shareholders passed it despite concerns with its magnitude and its potential to dilute other shareholders’ ownership.
Tesla, Inc. Chairman Robyn Denholm cast the vote as crucial to the company’s future, which needs an engaged Musk to achieve its goals.
Musk himself sought to rally support, using a portion of Tesla’s recent earnings call to lay out why he wasn’t comfortable building a “robot army” unless he owns a quarter of the company. His win gives him a clear, albeit challenging, path to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. Should he hit all of the targets in the plan, including expanding Tesla’s market value to USD 8.5 trillion, his total stake in the carmaker would be worth around USD 2.4 trillion.
His fortune has been on a roller coaster ride this year. It stood at roughly USD 450 billion in January 2025 when he joined US President Donald Trump at his inauguration, but began a rapid decline as the CEO’s politics — including a prominent role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)— alienated many potential Tesla buyers.
A subsequent, weeks-long feud between the two sent Tesla shares plummeting, leaving Musk with the second-worst single-day loss ever recorded.
His wealth has since rebounded, helped by a recovery in Tesla shares as well as booming valuations for his privately held businesses, including xAI and SpaceX.
The package comes after Musk’s previous multibillion-dollar compensation plan was struck down by a Delaware judge last year. The company is appealing the ruling and has moved its incorporation to Texas, partly in response to the decision.
In August, Tesla’s board also granted Musk an interim award valued at USD 30 billion, designed to partially replace the payment.
Tesla said on Thursday that it needs time to review the votes for a nonbinding shareholder proposal to invest in xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence start-up.