Tesla shareholders approve Musk’s trillion-dollar remuneration

Two months ago, when the Tesla board of directors announced its plan to award Elon Musk up to approximately one trillion US dollars in Tesla shares over the next ten years if the electric car manufacturer achieved certain targets, it was considered a ludicrous idea. But as absurd as this enormous figure may sound, the vast majority of shareholders have now approved the plan at the annual general meeting at Tesla’s headquarters in Austin, Texas. More than 75 per cent of the votes cast supported the plan. Of course, it also helped that Musk himself was allowed to exercise full voting rights for his approximately 15 per cent stake.

However, it is far from certain that Elon Musk will actually receive the trillion US dollar paycheck. This is because the remuneration plan is extremely complicated and linked to various milestones. Tesla’s chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, also emphasised that Musk would come away empty-handed if Tesla failed to achieve the targets set.

The first of a total of twelve tranches of shares for Elon Musk would be due if the company reaches a market value of 2 trillion US dollars. Currently, this value stands at around US$1.4 trillion. After that, further tranches would become due, usually in increments of US$500 million in market capitalisation. The goal is a market capitalisation of US$8.5 trillion in ten years. Only then would the maximum sum of around one trillion.

However, the milestones are not only linked to the stock market value, but also to various other targets. These include 20 million Tesla vehicles delivered (to date, over eight million units have been delivered), ten million active FSD subscriptions, one million robots delivered and one million robotaxis in commercial operation. Another prerequisite for reaching the maximum mark is that Musk remains in Tesla’s executive suite for another ten years. Elon Musk himself said that he is driven by the desire to increase his stake in Tesla to over 25 per cent and thus expand his influence in the company.

At the annual general meeting, Elon Musk also gave a presentation on the future of Tesla. He wants to open a “whole new chapter” in Tesla’s history and transform the electric car manufacturer into a leading AI and robotics company. To this end, Musk wants to build a huge factory for AI chips, which he describes as a ‘Terra Factory’ and thus “much bigger than a Giga Factory.” And he already has a partner in mind: “You know, maybe we’ll, we’ll do something with Intel,” Musk told a cheering crowd of Tesla shareholders. “We haven’t signed any deal, but it’s probably worth having discussions with Intel.”

Musk also provided details on the roadmap for Tesla vehicles: production of the Cybercab robotaxi is set to begin in April. Series production of the Semi electric truck, which is already in use in small series at Pepsi, among others, is also set to start next year. The electric semi-trailer truck has been redesigned for large-scale production, both in terms of design and technology. For example, consumption is to be reduced from 2 kWh/mile to 1.7 kWh/mile. Musk also announced that the new Roadster sports car will be unveiled on 1 April and go into production twelve to 18 months later.

electrek.co, reuters.com (Intel), x.com (Semi), teslarati.com (Cybercab), electrek.co (Roadster)

This article was first published by Florian Treiß for electrive’s German edition.