Tesla shareholders have voted to approve CEO Elon Musk’s unprecedented $1 trillion pay package, the largest executive compensation deal in corporate history.
At the company’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas, about 75% of shareholders backed the plan, which ties Musk’s compensation to Tesla’s long-term growth and performance milestones. Under the deal, first proposed in September 2025, Musk could receive up to 12% of Tesla’s stock, worth roughly $1 trillion, if the automaker reaches a market capitalization of $8.5 trillion and meets other operational targets over the next decade.
Tesla’s current market value stands at around $1.45 trillion, and Musk already owns about 13% of the company’s shares.
The new plan comes amid lingering legal disputes over Musk’s previous $56 billion compensation package, which a Delaware judge struck down in January 2024, calling it excessive. That ruling remains under appeal.
“I’d like to just give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported the shareholder votes,” Musk said during the meeting. He also thanked Tesla’s board for its “immense support,” joking that while most shareholder meetings are dull, “Tesla’s are bangers.”
Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm had strongly urged shareholders to approve the deal, warning that the company could lose Musk to his other ventures, such as SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), or xAI, if he wasn’t properly incentivized. “If we fail to foster an environment that motivates Elon to achieve great things,” Denholm wrote in a letter to investors, “we run the risk that he gives up his executive position, and Tesla may lose his time, talent and vision.”
However, not everyone was convinced. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Tesla’s sixth-largest external shareholder, voted against the package, citing concerns about “the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk.” Major proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and ISS also recommended rejecting the plan.
Musk, for his part, has said the package ensures he has enough influence to steer Tesla’s future, particularly in artificial intelligence, robotics, and self-driving technology, while still allowing for accountability. As he told investors earlier this year: “I want strong influence, but not so much that I can’t be fired if I go insane.”
Despite the vote’s approval, Tesla shares slipped 3.68% on Thursday to close at $429.52, as investors weighed both the massive payout and the company’s next phase of growth.