NEW YORK, Nov. 7: Tesla shareholders have approved a record-breaking pay package for CEO Elon Musk, which could reach nearly $1 billion, the BBC reported. About 75% of votes backed the plan during the company’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas, where Musk received loud applause and later danced on stage to chants of his name.
The deal ties Musk’s payout to ambitious performance goals, including boosting Tesla’s market value from around $1.4 trillion to $8.5 trillion over the next decade and deploying one million self-driving Robotaxi vehicles. If achieved, Musk would receive hundreds of millions of new shares, the BBC said. Critics called the package excessive, but Tesla’s board argued that Musk might quit without it and that his leadership was central to the firm’s future.
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During the meeting, Musk described the moment as the start of “a whole new book” for Tesla, highlighting the company’s humanoid robot, Optimus, rather than its core car business. His focus on robotics disappointed some analysts. Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management wrote on X that Musk’s remarks showed “where his head is at,” noting the absence of any mention of Tesla’s electric cars or Robotaxi program.
Later, Musk claimed the firm was “almost comfortable” letting drivers “text and drive essentially” using its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. The BBC noted that US regulators are investigating Tesla’s self-driving technology after several crashes involving vehicles that ran red lights or veered into oncoming traffic.
Tesla shares rose slightly in after-hours trading and have gained more than 60% over the past six months, though sales have slipped amid Musk’s public ties to former US President Donald Trump. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities told the BBC that Musk remains “Tesla’s biggest asset,” predicting that the firm’s valuation will increasingly hinge on artificial intelligence advances.
Musk, already Tesla’s largest shareholder with a 13% stake, had previously secured a multibillion-dollar compensation deal that was later struck down by a Delaware judge who ruled the board was too close to him. Tesla has since shifted its incorporation from Delaware to Texas, while the Delaware Supreme Court reviews the earlier decision, according to the BBC.
Despite pushback from major institutional investors, including Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and California’s CalPERS, retail shareholders provided strong backing for Musk’s package. The BBC said Tesla’s board members, including chair Robyn Denholm, had actively campaigned for its approval, even releasing a promotional video praising Musk’s leadership ahead of the vote.
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