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Title: Tesla's board to Elon Musk: Hit these milestones, and we'll make you a
trillionaire

Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2025 17:09:14 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/t...

It's September 2025, and things are looking peachy keen. Sure, the US job
market has taken a nosedive. And yeah, only one in four Americans believes
they have a good chance of improving their standard of living. But hey,
Tesla's board has proposed a pay package that could make Elon Musk the
world's first trillionaire. What really matters is that someone is having a
good time, right?

Tesla's board laid out what's by far the biggest CEO compensation package in
history on Friday. It reads like the ultimate dangled carrot for a leader who
is both driven by wealth and power and also prone to distraction.

The compensation plan is based on performance metrics that, at least for now,
seem far-fetched. First, the Tesla leader would have to remain at the company
for seven and a half years to cash in any shares. To receive the full payout,
he'd have to stay for a full decade. Musk also runs a rocket company and an
AI company (which also operates the former Twitter, aka X). So, above all
else, the proposal is designed to keep his attention on the company that made
him the world's richest person.

For Musk to receive the full payout of around $900 billion, Musk would have
to increase Tesla's market value to $8.5 trillion. It's worth about $1.1
trillion today. Other performance requirements include deploying a million
Tesla robotaxis and a million AI robots. Musk would also be incentivized to
participate in the company's long-term CEO succession plans. The package also
includes structural protections to minimize stock price volatility, which the
company has become well-acquainted with in 2025.

Tesla recalled virtually all Cybertrucks earlier this year.Tesla

"We believe that Elon's singular vision is vital to navigating this critical
inflection point," Tesla board leaders Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-
Thompson wrote in the shareholder letter. "We also recognize the formidable
nature of this undertaking and, as a result, the importance of having a
leader who is not only willing and capable but eager to meet this challenge.
Simply put, retaining and incentivizing Elon is fundamental to Tesla
achieving these goals and becoming the most valuable company in history."

Denholm and Wilson-Thompson implied the package was at least partly motivated
by the CEO threatening to jump ship. "Mr. Musk also raised the possibility
that he may pursue other interests that may afford him greater influence if
he did not receive such assurances," they wrote. "Ultimately, the Special
Committee believed it to be critical to Tesla to secure Mr. Musk's commitment
and focus to lead Tesla."

Tesla shareholders will have to approve the pay package. They're expected to
vote on it on November 6. A Delaware judge struck down a (similarly
performance-based) 2018 package, and Tesla appealed. The new plan, if
approved, would replace the older one if the appeal fails.

If Musk hit all of the required benchmarks, his stake in Tesla would grow
from 13 percent to 29 percent. Who says the American Dream isn't alive and
well?

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/t...
these-milestones-and-well-make-you-a-trillionaire-170914461.html?src=rss

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