Elon Musk: The Future of Tesla and the Path to Becoming a Trillionaire

Elon Musk and Tesla's Goals

Elon Musk may be on the path to becoming the world's first trillionaire by increasing Tesla’s value to 8 trillion USD within the next decade. However, for this to happen, shareholders need to approve the latest proposed compensation plan for Musk. This voting will take place at the annual shareholders meeting scheduled for this Thursday in Austin, Texas.

As stated in Tesla’s annual proxy statement, Musk will lead the company to become the most valuable in history if he meets all the performance targets outlined under the 2025 CEO Performance Award.

In addition, apart from forward-looking proposals for Musk's 1 trillion USD compensation, shareholders will also evaluate 56 billion USD remaining from the 2018 compensation plan as an alternative payment method. The company is also requesting shareholders to vote against several other shareholder proposals. The previous compensation package was invalidated by a Delaware court twice, and an appeal process is ongoing in a higher court, hence Tesla seeks to ensure Musk receives his payments.

The 2025 compensation package contains targets beyond just increasing the company's market value. The required targets are divided into twelve "tranches," each defined by its own growth targets. The first milestone requires the market value to reach 2 trillion USD. The following nine targets demand an additional 500 billion USD each in growth, aiming to reach 8.5 trillion USD by 2035. Alongside each financial target, there are also product development requirements.

Musk must sell 20 million Tesla electric vehicles, provide 10 million active autonomous driving subscriptions, produce 1 million humanoid robots, and roll out 1 million commercial robo-taxis in order to earn 12% of the company's shares over the next decade. Additionally, he is expected to achieve 400 billion USD in actual earnings over the quarters. In the third quarter of 2025, the actual earnings were 4.2 billion USD, showing a 9% decline from the previous year.

As a result, Musk needs to increase Tesla’s market value from 1 trillion USD today to 8.5 trillion USD. Also, he must maintain shareholding for at least seven and a half years and assist in developing a long-term succession plan. As the company’s value increases, the value of the shares will also rise, thus increasing his own wealth.

The company stressed that achieving these proposed targets will be "extraordinarily difficult and highly challenging for both Tesla and Musk." If these financial targets are met, Tesla will reach a value nearly greater than the combined total of Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet.

Some commentators suggest that even if Musk does not meet all these targets, he could still make billions in gains. Robyn Denholm, Chair of the Tesla Board, stated that voting "no" on the 2025 compensation plan could risk losing Musk as CEO. Denholm pointed out that Musk has not received meaningful compensation over the last eight years, a situation stemming from legal battles over the 2018 compensation plan. In a note signed by Denholm and board member Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, they highlighted that Musk's achievements during this agreement period have led to an increase in Tesla's 735 billion USD market value.

If the new compensation plan is granted alongside the 2018 package, Musk could own more than 25% of Tesla’s shares. As of November 5, Tesla shares are trading around 450 USD, nearing their 52-week high.

On November 4, SEC filings indicated that Musk and others were planning to vote against the 1 trillion USD compensation package based on social media posts. However, the situation shifted within hours. Schwab stated, "We believe that supporting this proposal will align management with the interests of shareholders and yield the best outcome for all parties."

Meanwhile, Norges Bank Investment Management (Norway’s sovereign wealth fund) and Tesla’s seventh-largest shareholder announced this week they would vote against the proposed compensation package, expressing concerns about the total size of the award and a perceived lack of key person risk reduction.

Despite Musk's posts related to the voting on his own social media platform, '__X__', and the support from current board members, at least three investment firms have committed to supporting the proposal.

As the largest individual shareholder of Tesla, owning more than 500 million shares, Musk technically has the right to vote in favor of his own compensation package. Lawrence Hamermesh, an emeritus professor at Widener University Delaware Law School, stated, "If a controlling shareholder can vote on their own compensation, it becomes a rather sad commentary on accountability."

Tesla aims to provide motivating compensation plans to its CEO by offering stock options in exchange for meeting specific targets. However, the last compensation package established in 2018 was contested by a shareholder in a Delaware court and resulted in being deemed invalid. Musk has expressed his discomfort with court rulings and has sought to move Tesla's headquarters from Delaware to Texas. Musk's open discomfort with decisions of the Delaware courts has sparked a trend known as #DExit, where other leading companies such as Dropbox and Meta have threatened to move their corporate headquarters out of Delaware.

It is noted that Elon Musk has significant influence that extends to corporate law. Eric Talley, a professor at Columbia Law School, expressed that Delaware's title as "the home of companies" has largely gone unchallenged, at least until 2024, and that Musk is moving to question this status.