SAN FRANSISCO — Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, secured shareholder approval on Thursday, November 6, 2025, for what is now the largest corporate pay package in history — a deal potentially worth up to $1 trillion — as investors overwhelmingly backed his long-term vision of transforming the electric vehicle maker into a leader in artificial intelligence and robotics.
At Tesla’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas, more than 75 percent of shareholders voted in favour of the plan, which could see Musk receive roughly $878 billion in stock over the next decade if he meets ambitious operational and market-cap milestones.
Bounding onto the stage accompanied by dancing robots, Musk celebrated the result, calling it “a whole new book” in Tesla’s evolution.
“What we are about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book,” he told cheering investors.
The Tesla board had warned that Musk might leave if the proposal was rejected.
Despite criticism from some institutional investors and proxy advisory firms — who called the package excessive — the board argued that the pay structure was directly tied to shareholder value creation.
Under the terms, Musk will receive incremental stock awards as Tesla achieves targets including 20 million vehicles delivered, 1 million robotaxis on the road, and up to $400 billion in annual profit.
The company’s valuation must also climb from its current $1.5 trillion to as high as $8.5 trillion for Musk to receive the full payout.
Even partial achievement of these goals would still yield tens of billions of dollars for Musk, who already holds about 15 percent of Tesla’s shares.
The vote was a resounding endorsement of Musk’s leadership, despite growing unease over his far-right political rhetoric and his simultaneous management of multiple companies, including SpaceX and xAI.
“Other shareholder meetings are like snoozefests, but ours are bangers,” Musk quipped to the audience.
“I mean, look at this. This is sick.”
Shareholders also approved Tesla’s investment in xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, though analysts noted that many abstentions reflected investor caution over governance safeguards.
Jessica McDougall, a partner at Longacre Square, said large investors would be “looking for the board to provide assurances and guardrails to avoid excessive mixing of businesses.”
Among the other approved items were the re-election of three board members and the adoption of annual elections for all directors.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and major proxy firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services had opposed the plan, calling it overly generous.
But supporters argued that the structure ensures Musk is rewarded only if shareholders profit.
“If completed, these tranches of awarded shares follow strong improvements in revenue growth for Tesla,” said Brian Mulberry of Zacks Investment Management.
“The question is whether that growth will offset the concerns of dilution — or if this is just giving Elon his wish of enough influence to shape the future of AI.”
Musk used the event to outline his next steps, promising to start production of Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi in April and unveiling a new-generation Roadster sports car.
He also hinted at plans for a “gigantic chip fab” to produce artificial intelligence chips, possibly in partnership with Intel.
Musk said he values the additional voting power that would come with the pay deal even more than the money itself.
“It’s about having the influence to drive the next technological revolution — a robot army,” he said.
The approval cements Musk’s position at the helm of Tesla as he pursues an aggressive strategy to expand from electric vehicles into robotics and AI.
