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Tesla shareholders gathered this Thursday to decide on a enormous remuneration plan for the company's leader valued at close to $1 trillion. Should it pass, this plan would signal shareholder trust that the billionaire can guide the car company into an era dominated by machine learning and automation. Should it fail, Tesla could confront the departure of a visionary leader who previously established the company name synonymous with electric vehicles.

Record-Breaking Goals and Market Capitalization

Should Musk achieve the lofty objectives outlined in the compensation plan revealed at Tesla's corporate assembly, he could emerge as the first-ever trillionaire. For this to happen, he must steer Tesla to a staggering $8.5 trillion in market value, which is 800% of its current valuation. Additionally, he will be obligated to deploy millions self-driving cars and bipedal machines, while maintaining the financial performance in the massive revenue figures over the next decade.

Reward System

The key aims of the compensation plan, split into a dozen phases, outline a trajectory for Tesla to attain its massive market capitalization. If successful, Musk would be able to cash in an additional 12% of the corporation's shares. For this to occur, he must maintain involvement with the company for at least 7.5 years. Furthermore, he is required to help develop a long-term succession plan for the organization he has headed for more than 20 years. The stock options provided by the new compensation plan, alongside shares guaranteed in his previous compensation plan, would leave Musk with 25 percent equity of Tesla's stock. As of early November, Tesla equity was priced approaching its yearly maximum, at around $450 per share.

Lofty Goals

During a decade, Musk will be tasked to produce 20 million EVs to customers, sell 10 million live FSD memberships, develop and sell 1 million bipedal machines, and introduce 1 million robotaxis in commercial service.

Musk will also be required to elevate the company to $400 billion in real profits for four consecutive quarters. Tesla's tangible revenue for the Q3 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 top in the planet, according to market tracking.

Reinstating a Invalidated Deal

Shareholders are also evaluating a arrangement that would compensate Musk after his previous pay package was voided by a judicial body in Delaware. The compensation package, valued at around $56 billion, was challenged by a single stockholder who won his case. The state court dismissed Musk's compensation plan on two occasions. If shareholders approve the plan in the Thursday ballot, Musk is set to be awarded the huge sum irrespective of whether Tesla and Musk win an appeal of the lawsuit.

After Musk's previous compensation plan was first rescinded, he moved Tesla's legal headquarters to Texas from Delaware. He did the same with the rocket firm and other business entities. In last year, according to Texas regulations, shareholders once again passed the remuneration deal.

But Delaware's so-called "equity court" for a second time denied one of the largest CEO compensation packages in modern history. Following that unfavorable ruling, Musk used online platforms to show frustration with the state and its "influential presiding justice", perhaps igniting a series of corporate exits that Delaware lawmakers have tried to stop with new laws.

In considering whether Musk had excessive control in being given that previous compensation plan, a respected legal scholar commented that the judicial authority acknowledged that other "high-profile executives" like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were not awarded this kind of goal-oriented agreements.