Tesla shareholders have officially approved CEO Elon Musk’s colossal $1 trillion compensation package at the annual shareholder meeting on November 6, 2025. A resounding 75% of the votes were in favor of Musk receiving the payout.
Details of the deal
The $1 trillion package is part of Musk’s 2018 performance-based plan, which grants him up to 423 million Tesla shares over a 10-year period. But these aren’t straight-up blank cheques; they will come in 12 tranches, which will be unlocked only if Tesla meets some aggressive milestones. Some of these criteria include, Tesla delivering 20 million vehicles annually. Achieving a $10 trillion market cap and deploying 1 million robotaxis is also on the list.
Interestingly, Musk will receive no salary or cash bonus from here on. His entire compensation will be equity-based, aligning his payout with Tesla’s long-term growth in AI, robotics, and energy.
World’s first trillionaire
The package is retroactive to early 2025 and runs through 2035. If fully realized, Musk’s stake in Tesla could grow from 12% to over 25%, potentially making him the world’s first trillionaire. Back in early October, he became the first billionaire to cross $500 billion mark in net worth.Tesla’s board defended the plan as essential to retaining Musk’s leadership amid fierce competition in autonomous tech and AI.
Shareholders echoed that sentiment, with chants of “Elon!” erupting during the vote. However, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund NBIM was among the few that opposed the ambitious pay package for Musk. NBIM has voted against compensation for Musk on two occasions in the past, in 2018 and 2024.
Tesla shareholders cast their votes on the new compensation plan following a ruling by the Delaware Court of Chancery last year, which found Musk’s 2018 pay package had been wrongly approved by the board and ordered it to be revoked. Musk has since challenged the decision, and the case is now pending before the Delaware State Supreme Court.