Tesla shareholders on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a massive compensation package for CEO Elon Musk — a deal that could grant him nearly $1 trillion over the next decade and cement his position as the highest-paid chief executive in history.
More than 75% of shareholders voted in favor of the package, Tesla General Counsel Brandon Erhart announced during the company’s annual meeting.
According to a September securities filing, Musk could earn roughly $900 billion if he meets a series of aggressive performance targets. Those include lifting Tesla’s market valuation from its current $1.1 trillion to $8.5 trillion — higher than the combined market value of Microsoft, Meta, and Google-parent Alphabet.
The package also hinges on ambitious production milestones, including the rollout of one million robotaxis and one million humanoid robots over the next 10 years.
Despite Thursday’s strong approval, the proposal had faced pushback from several major institutional investors. Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund publicly opposed the plan earlier in the week, calling it excessively large and raising concerns about shareholder dilution and “key person risk.”
“We appreciate the value Mr. Musk has created, but we are concerned about the total size of the award,” Norges Bank Investment Management said in a statement.
Musk, already considered the world’s richest person with an estimated net worth of $504 billion, would become the first-ever trillionaire if he receives the full payout. His ownership stake in Tesla could rise to as much as 29% under the new plan — a long-standing objective of the CEO.
Tesla’s board has urged shareholders to support the plan, calling Musk essential to achieving the company’s long-term vision.
“We are at a pivotal moment in Tesla’s history,” the company wrote on its website this week. “If you believe, like us, that Elon is the CEO who can make our ambitious vision a reality, vote now.”
Online voting closed Wednesday at 11:59 a.m. ET.
The shareholder approval arrives as Musk’s previous $50 billion compensation plan remains tied up in Delaware court, where a judge twice struck it down last year.
