Elon Musk, already the world’s richest man, could receive a pay deal of almost $1 trillion after Tesla shareholders approved the deal on Thursday.
The payout, which will come in the form of Tesla shares, is tied to several performance metrics.
He will have to guide the company into selling 20 million Tesla’s electric vehicles (EVs), as well as a million android robots and robotaxis.
Musk’s current wealth tops out at just under half a trillion dollars.
12-figure pay deal
Overall, the unprecedented 12-figure pay package will only be fully realised if Musk reaches the lofty goal of reaching $8.5 trillion market value for Tesla, up from its current $1.4 trillion.
The 400 million shares he is set to receive would then be worth around $1 trillion.
The shares are merely a means to have better control over Tesla, not a wealth-grab, affirms Musk.
“It’s not like I’m going to go spend the money”, said Musk in a call with investors. “There needs to be enough voting control to give [me] a strong influence – but not so much that I can’t be fired if I go insane.”
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Is Elon Musk worth $1 trillion?
The $1 trillion deal was a way to keep Musk on board as CEO, according to Tesla’s board.
For many, he is Tesla’s most valuable asset – over 75% of shareholders approved the deal.
But for others, his personal proximity to the Trump administration, which he left in a spat earlier this year, has hit the company hard.
Tesla’s EV sales across Europe have plummeted, declining over 40% year-on-year.
In October, Tesla sold just 750 cars in Germany, less than half of what it sold a year ago.
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Pivot to robots
Declining vehicle sales do not seem to faze Musk, however, who is instead hedging his bets on Tesla’s robotic offerings.
Full self-driving cars and robotaxis were the only time he mentioned EVs in his speech to shareholders.
He instead said that Tesla’s humanoid robot ‘Optimus’ will be “the biggest product of all time by far.” The robot, unveiled as a prototype in 2022, will be able to perform “unsafe, repetitive or boring tasks”.
Musk has previously said that he wants to put Optimus to work in Tesla’s own factories.
Investors and critics alike will have to wait and see whether Optimus will help propel Tesla and Musk to reach his lofty goals and become the world’s first trillionaire.
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