Last Thursday, Tesla shareholders voted in favor of a compensation package that could make Elon Musk, already the richest person in the world, the first trillionaire. This information is reported by the media.
At the annual Tesla shareholders meeting, over 75% of them supported the compensation package. It is important to note that the vote did not cover 15% of the shares owned by Musk himself.
When the voting results were announced, applause and cheers erupted in the meeting hall. Shortly after, Musk expressed his gratitude to the shareholders and the company's board of directors: "I really appreciate it," he noted.
Although Musk does not receive an official salary, the new compensation package will be granted in the form of stock options, which could yield him up to 423.7 million additional Tesla shares over the next decade.
If Tesla reaches a market capitalization of 8.5 trillion dollars, the value of these shares could amount to around 1 trillion dollars, allowing Musk to claim the full reward. However, for this to happen, the company will need to meet a series of financial and operational targets, and the shares will be distributed in 12 equal tranches.
If Musk receives all the shares from this package over ten years, it would be equivalent to an income of 275 million dollars per day, surpassing all previous executive compensation in history.
Ambitious goals for stock growth
To achieve the necessary market capitalization of 8.5 trillion dollars, Tesla's stock must increase by 466% from its current value. This is also 70% more than the most valuable company in the world — Nvidia, whose market capitalization reached 5 trillion dollars last week.
According to Bloomberg data, Musk's net worth is 473 billion dollars, primarily due to his stakes in Tesla, as well as other companies he manages, such as SpaceX and xAI.
The shareholders' rejection of the compensation package on Thursday could have meant Musk's departure from the position of CEO of Tesla. The board's statement mentioned that Musk had raised the issue of the possibility of his departure if he did not receive control guarantees that could be provided by this compensation.
However, the year has been challenging for the company: sales and profits significantly declined in the first half of the year, and Tesla may incur billions of dollars in losses due to cuts in government support for electric vehicles in the U.S.
A future focused on robots and AI
Nevertheless, Musk and Tesla's management continue to disregard these difficulties, claiming that the company will focus not only on selling electric vehicles but also on developing autonomous vehicles, including "robotaxis," as well as humanoid robots.
In his speech to shareholders, Musk paid more attention to robots that have not yet been brought to market than to cars. He spoke about the full self-driving (FSD) system, which still requires the driver to be attentive and ready to take control.
Musk stated that robots will become a more significant part of the company's business than cars or any other products. "I believe this will be the most significant product of all time," he said. "It will surpass anything. Every person on Earth will want to have their own R2D2 or C3PO," he added.
In his forecasts, Musk even suggested that Tesla robots could replace surgeons, eliminate global poverty, and change the economic order in the world. He claims they could be produced at a cost of 20,000 dollars each, allowing them to be sold at the price of a car.
However, these concepts and products are still in development and not available to consumers. This means that even after the approval of the compensation package, Musk is not sure he will ever be able to receive even hundreds of millions of his potential shares. He has to address the company's current challenges and fulfill his ambitious promises for the future.
Musk emphasizes that the additional shares are needed for him to maintain control over the company, not to increase his wealth. "I'm not going to spend the money," he noted during a phone call with investors last month. "I need enough votes to have influence, but not so much that I can't be fired if I go crazy," he added.
