The landmark performance-based package ties Musk’s compensation to Tesla’s next decade of growth in AI, robotics, and autonomy.
AUSTIN, Texas (Nov. 6, 2025) — Tesla investors approved a performance-based compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk that could be worth up to $1 trillion over the next decade, the largest potential payout ever for a corporate executive. The vote—held at Tesla’s annual meeting—passed with a strong majority, signaling investor confidence that Musk can deliver on the company’s next era of growth. Unlike a cash salary, the package is structured entirely in stock tied to ambitious milestones.
Hitting those targets is what unlocks tranches of options: goals reported by multiple outlets include pushing Tesla’s market value to roughly $8.5 trillion, scaling autonomous “robotaxi” services, and advancing production of humanoid robots—benchmarks meant to bind the award to verifiable performance rather than tenure.
The approval arrives against the backdrop of a long legal fight over Musk’s prior compensation. In January 2024, Delaware’s Court of Chancery rescinded his earlier $56 billion plan, faulting the approval process and board independence. Tesla later sought to revive the award, but the court reaffirmed its decision that December, and the dispute moved into appeals—even as Tesla shifted its corporate base to Texas.
Investor opinion remains divided over the new package’s scale and dilution risk, but the shareholder tally was decisive. Major outlets reported roughly three-quarters of votes in favor, while some large institutions dissented. Supporters argue the plan is necessary to keep Musk focused on Tesla as it pursues AI, robotics, and autonomous mobility; critics contend the concentration of power and potential payout are unprecedented.
Strategically, the award doubles as a public roadmap: if Tesla approaches the stated valuation and product milestones, the company would be operating at a far different scale—ranging from high-volume EV manufacturing to fleet-level autonomy and commercial robotics. Musk has pitched this as a transition from “car company” to a vertically integrated tech and AI platform, a thesis many shareholders just endorsed at the ballot box. What happens next will be measured quarter by quarter: deliveries, margins, software progress, and regulatory approvals for autonomy will either validate—or challenge—the vote’s logic.
The legal context still matters, too, as prior litigation created the conditions for this reworked plan. For now, investors have placed a monumental bet that Musk’s leadership can convert a bold vision into results big enough to justify the biggest potential payday in corporate history.
