Elon Musk to be world’s first trillionaire? Tesla shareholders to vote on record $1 trillion pay package; critics call plan excessive, unfair

Tesla shareholders are set to decide on Thursday whether to approve an unprecedented compensation plan for chief executive Elon Musk that could make him the world’s first trillionaire. The vote will take place during the company’s annual meeting at its factory in Austin, Texas, where the outcome will determine Musk’s future involvement with the electric carmaker. According to CNN, the new stock-based pay proposal would grant Musk as many as 423.7 million additional Tesla shares over the next decade — worth around $1 trillion if the company achieves an $8.5 trillion market valuation. That target represents a 466% jump from Tesla’s current value and about 70% more than Nvidia, which recently reached a $5 trillion market cap.Tesla chair Robin Denholm defended the proposal, saying Musk’s leadership was essential to keeping Tesla’s edge in artificial intelligence, autonomy and robotics. “Without Elon, Tesla could lose significant value,” she said in an October 27 message to shareholders, quoted by AFP. The package could raise Musk’s ownership from roughly 12% to more than 25%.Musk has hinted he may “pursue other interests” if the plan is rejected. “It’s not like I’m going to spend the money,” he said during a recent investor call. “It’s just if we build this robot army, I want to have at least a strong influence over that robot army.”The billionaire’s vision for Tesla extends beyond electric vehicles to self-driving cars, robotaxis and humanoid robots, which he believes could make the company “the most valuable in the world.” Supporters argue that Musk is pivotal to achieving that transformation. “Shareholders are going to support this overwhelmingly,” said Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, as quoted by CNN.However, the proposal has faced pushback from several major investors and proxy advisory firms. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, one of Tesla’s top shareholders, said it would vote against the plan, citing its “size, dilution and lack of mitigation of key person risk,” reported AFP. Advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) also urged investors to reject the package, criticising its “vague and undemanding” performance targets and its potential to weaken shareholder value.Despite these objections, many analysts believe the plan will likely pass, given Musk’s loyal investor base. A previous compensation vote won 84% approval. Yet critics continue to question the fairness of the proposal. “If you get a trillion dollars over 10 years, that’s $275 million a day. I don’t know anybody who thinks that’s fair,” said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, as quoted by CNN.Anti-Musk protests are also planned outside the Austin gigafactory on the day of the vote. As per AFP, activist Ethan McBride said, “A trillion dollars is way too much any person should have under any circumstances.”