Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ:TSLA) annual shareholder meeting this week is shaping up less like a corporate vote and more like a referendum on Elon Musk himself. At stake: a $1 trillion stock award that could make Musk the world's first trillionaire — if he hits a series of moonshot goals that would turn Tesla into an $8.5 trillion juggernaut.
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A Pay Package That Redefines ‘All Or Nothing'
The proposal, first floated in 2018 and now re-ratified after a legal challenge, would give Musk the right to earn up to 304 million Tesla shares over the next decade if he’s able to sixfold the company's market cap and meets targets like:
- selling 20 million cars annually,
- rolling out a million robotaxis, and
- deploying a million Optimus humanoid robots.
Tesla's board, led by chair Robyn Denholm, has been on a media blitz, arguing that dangling a massive equity prize is the only way to keep Musk focused on the automaker rather than his constellation of side ventures — from X to xAI to SpaceX. "He's driven by ambitious targets," Denholm said, warning that Musk could "walk away" if shareholders reject the deal, reported FT.
Read Also: Tesla’s EV Future Is Threatened By China’s ‘700-Pound Gorilla’
Shareholders Torn Between Loyalty And Leverage
Not everyone's buying it. The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has already voted against the package, calling it "orders of magnitude" above peers and warning it would "further concentrate power in a single shareholder."
Proxy advisers ISS and Glass Lewis also oppose it — prompting Musk to fire back, branding them "corporate terrorists." Yet for every institutional critic, there's an army of retail shareholders ready to click "yes," many of whom see Musk's outsized pay as symbolic of Tesla's outsized ambition.
Investor Takeaway
Whether the plan passes or not, the vote underscores Tesla's identity crisis — is it a carmaker, a robotics empire, or an Elon Musk personality cult?
Investors betting on Tesla's long-term story should remember: even if Musk wins his trillion-dollar jackpot, it only pays out if he can deliver on the biggest "if" in corporate history.
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