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Investors in the electric car maker gathered this Thursday to decide on a massive remuneration plan for the company's leader worth approximately around $1 trillion. Upon approval, this plan would signal investor confidence that the entrepreneur can guide the automaker into an age shaped by machine learning and robotics. If rejected, Tesla could confront the loss of a key figure who previously established the brand synonymous with EVs.

Record-Breaking Goals and Company Valuation

Upon reaching the formidable milestones detailed in the pay package presented at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could emerge as the first-ever trillionaire. For this to happen, he must lead Tesla to a monumental $8.5 trillion in company worth, which is eight times its current valuation. Additionally, he will be obligated to roll out millions self-driving cars and humanoid robots, while maintaining the company's bottom line in the massive revenue figures throughout the coming ten years.

Compensation Structure

The primary objectives of the remuneration structure, organized into a dozen phases, delineate a path for Tesla to attain its enormous valuation. If successful, Musk would be able to cash in an extra 12% of the firm's equity. To be eligible, he must stay committed with the company for no less than 7.5 years. Additionally, he must contribute to forming a corporate transition roadmap for the business he has managed for over 20 years. The equity incentives awarded by the new compensation plan, alongside shares guaranteed in his previous compensation plan, would leave Musk with a quarter stake of Tesla's stock. As of early November, Tesla shares were valued close to its 52-week high, at approximately $450 per share.

Ambitious Targets

Over the course of a decade, Musk will be tasked to manufacture 20 million zero-emission cars to buyers, market 10 million active full self-driving subscriptions, create and distribute 1 million humanoid robots, and deploy 1 million self-driving cabs in commercial service.

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

As of November, Musk's fortune was estimated at $460 billion, the highest in the world, according to wealth indexes.

Restoring a Invalidated Plan

Stockholders are furthermore evaluating a proposal that would remunerate Musk after his earlier remuneration deal was invalidated by a judicial body in Delaware. The pay plan, valued at around $56 billion, was challenged by a single stockholder who succeeded legally. The state court dismissed Musk's remuneration deal twice. If shareholders approve the plan in the Thursday ballot, Musk is set to be granted the huge sum whether or not Tesla and Musk succeed in appealing of the legal matter.

Subsequent to Musk's previous compensation plan was originally overturned, he moved Tesla's business registration out of Delaware and into Texas. He did the same with the rocket firm and other companies' headquarters. In 2024, per Texas statutes, shareholders for a second time passed the pay package.

But Delaware's often referred to as "judicial body" again ruled against one of the largest CEO compensation packages in recent times. In the wake of that negative decision, Musk used online platforms to voice displeasure with the jurisdiction and its "influential presiding justice", perhaps igniting a series of corporate exits that Delaware officials have tried to stop with legislation.

In considering whether Musk had undue influence in being granted that 2018 pay package, a prominent legal scholar observed that the court acknowledged that other "celebrity leaders" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and the Amazon founder were not awarded this kind of goal-oriented agreements.