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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?
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Will Shanklin
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