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Tesla shareholders convened on Thursday to vote on a enormous pay deal for the company's leader valued at around $1 trillion. If approved, this package would demonstrate investor confidence that the billionaire can lead the car company into an era defined by machine learning and automation. Should it fail, Tesla could risk the exit of a key figure who historically built the corporation synonymous with zero-emission cars.

Historic Targets and Market Capitalization

Should Musk achieve the ambitious milestones specified in the pay package revealed at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could emerge as the first-ever person with a trillion-dollar net worth. To accomplish this, he must guide Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in company worth, which is eight times its existing market cap. Furthermore, he will be tasked to launch countless autonomous vehicles and advanced androids, while upholding the corporate profits in the hundreds of billions throughout the coming ten years.

Reward System

The primary objectives of the compensation plan, divided into a dozen phases, chart a roadmap for Tesla to reach its colossal market capitalization. Should targets be met, Musk would be able to cash in an extra 12% of the firm's equity. To qualify, he must stay committed with the firm for no less than 7.5 years. Additionally, he must assist in creating a future leadership strategy for the enterprise he has headed for more than 20 years. The stock options provided by the updated remuneration deal, in addition to shares promised in his 2018 package, would result in Musk with 25% ownership of Tesla's stock. As of early November, Tesla shares were valued close to its annual peak, at roughly $450 per share.

Formidable Objectives

Throughout a ten-year period, Musk will be tasked to manufacture 20 million zero-emission cars to customers, market 10 million live FSD memberships, create and distribute 1 million bipedal machines, and introduce 1 million autonomous taxis in paid operations.

Musk will additionally be tasked to bring the company to $400 billion in real profits for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's real profits for the third quarter of 2025 were $4.2 billion, a 9% decrease from the same period last year.

As of November, Musk's net worth was estimated at $460 billion, the leading in the world, based on market tracking.

Restoring a Rescinded Plan

Investors are also reviewing a plan that would remunerate Musk after his previous pay package was voided by a legal authority in Delaware. The compensation package, worth an estimated $56 billion, was contested by a sole shareholder who prevailed in court. The Delaware court of chancery rejected Musk's pay package twice. Should investors pass the proposal in Thursday's vote, Musk is set to be paid the massive amount whether or not Tesla and Musk overturn the ruling of the legal matter.

Following Musk's previous compensation plan was originally overturned, he relocated Tesla's corporate home to Texas from Delaware. He followed suit with SpaceX and additional corporate bases. In last year, under Texas law, shareholders for a second time passed the compensation plan.

But Delaware's often referred to as "equity court" for a second time denied one of the largest CEO compensation packages in modern history. In the wake of that adverse judgment, Musk took to social media to express dissatisfaction with the jurisdiction and its "influential presiding justice", perhaps igniting a wave of business departures that Delaware officials have sought to curb with regulatory measures.

In considering whether Musk had improper sway in being given that 2018 pay package, a prominent academic expert commented that the judge noted that other "superstar CEOs" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and the Amazon founder were not awarded this sort of incentive-based contracts.