Elon Musk in line for $1 trillion pay package if Tesla hits goals over next decade
Tesla CEO Elon Musk could be in line for a payout of $1 trillion if his electric car company meets a series of extremely aggressive targets over the next 10 years, according to documents released by the company.
Tesla, which is leaning heavily into robotics and AI, said in a regulatory filing on Friday that the package has a dozen share tranches that include awards for Musk if targets, ranging from car production to the total value of the company, are met over that time period.
Very early in the plan, Tesla would have to reach a market valuation of $2 trillion and achieve 20 million vehicles deliveries. Tesla delivered less than 2 million vehicles in 2024.
That milestone would also required a million robotaxis in commercial operation and the delivery of 1 million artificial intelligence bots.
Musk needs to remain with Tesla for at least seven and a half years to cash out on any stock, and 10 years to earn the full amount.
Musk has been one of the richest people in the world for several years.
Musk would also receive more voting power over Tesla under the proposed plan. The EV company is set to hold its annual shareholders meeting on Nov. 6. Tesla’s last shareholders meeting was on June 13 of last year, where investors voted to restore Musk’s record $44.9 billion pay package that was thrown out by a Delaware judge earlier that year.
A condition of the 11th and 12th tranches of the plan includes Musk coming up with a framework for someone to succeed him as CEO.
The goals set out for Musk and Tesla are extremely ambitious given recent tumult at the Texas company.
Tesla shares have plunged 25 percent this year largely due to blowback over Musk’s affiliation with President Donald Trump. But Tesla also faces intensifying competition from the big Detroit automakers and particularly from China.
Telsa sales have fallen precipitously in Europe after Musk aligned with a far-right political party in German.
Sales 40 percent in July in the 27 European Union countries compared with the year earlier even as sales overall of electric vehicle soared, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. Meanwhile sales of Chinese rival BYD continued to climb fast, grabbing 1.1 percent market share of all car sales in the month versus Tesla’s 0.7 percent.
In its most recent quarter, Tesla reported that quarterly profits plunged from $1.39 billion to $409 million. Revenue also fell and the company fell short of even the lowered expectations on Wall Street.
Investors have grown increasingly worried about the trajectory of the company after Musk had spent so much time in Washington this year, becoming one of the most prominent officials in the Trump administration in its bid to slash the size of the US government.
Last month Tesla said that it gave Musk a stock grant of $29 billion as a reward for years of “transformative and unprecedented” growth despite a recent foray into right-wing politics that has hurt its sales, profits and its stock price.
The award arrived eight months after a judge revoked Musk’s 2018 pay package for a second time, something the company noted in August. Tesla has appealed the ruling.
Tesla said at the time that the grant was a “first step, good faith” way of retaining Musk and keeping him focused, citing his leadership of SpaceX, xAI and other companies. Musk said recently that he needed more shares and control so he couldn’t be ousted by shareholder activists.
Tesla’s stock rose nearly 2 percent in premarket trading.
