Tesla’s board has proposed a US$1 trillion compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk in what would be the largest corporate pay package in history, underscoring the hold Musk has over the carmaker as it attempts to transform into an AI and robotics powerhouse.
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The world’s richest person has consistently said he needs more of a stake in the company, even as a legal battle over his 2018 pay package – then valued at a mere US$56 billion – continues.
The regulatory filing puts Musk on a different plane than other technology executives, saying that “traditional compensation packages granted to executives at other companies were determined to not be appropriate for designing Musk’s incentive compensation”.
The proposed plan would grant Musk up to 12 per cent of Tesla’s stock, worth about US$1.03 trillion if the company hits its target market value of US$8.6 trillion. The plan requires boosting Tesla’s valuation nearly eightfold, or about US$7.5 trillion, over the next decade.
If fully earned, the award would materially increase Musk’s voting power from his roughly 13 per cent stake, intensifying debate over governance and succession.
Musk would receive no salary or cash bonus under the proposal, with the compensation tied to stock awards that vest only if Tesla meets both market cap and operational targets, such as selling millions of EVs, deploying robotaxis and delivering AI-powered humanoid robots.