The goals set out for Musk and Tesla are extremely ambitious given recent tumult at the Texas company.
WASHINGTON — The world’s wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, could potentially become the first trillionaire if he achieves a highly ambitious series of targets for his electric vehicle company over the next ten years, as outlined in a proposed compensation plan revealed by Tesla.
According to a regulatory filing Friday, Tesla intends to award Musk shares amounting to as much as 12% of the company through a dozen different packages contingent on meeting certain performance goals. These targets include significant enhancements in car production, stock price, and operating profit. If shareholders approve, this new compensation plan could make Musk the first trillion-dollar executive, symbolizing a new pinnacle of extraordinary pay in a nation already recognized for exorbitant compensation. However, the payment comes in the form of shares, not cash, and the targets are exceptionally challenging.
After defying skeptics by transforming Tesla into the world’s most valuable auto manufacturer, Musk may now encounter even greater challenges in achieving the targets set by Tesla’s compensation committee. This includes Tesla’s core business of electric vehicle production, which is currently experiencing a downturn partly due to Musk’s engagement with conservative politics.
“It doesn’t matter how much money he gets. He can’t help himself,” remarked Telemetry analyst Sam Abuelsamid, who monitors Tesla’s stock, which has declined 27% from its December peak. “And the more he talks, the more he alienates potential customers.”
To qualify for his first share package, equivalent to 1% of the company, Musk would need to persuade stock market investors that Tesla is worth $2 trillion in total, double its current valuation, while also achieving several other milestones. Securing all offered shares, enabling him to become the world’s first trillion-dollar individual, would necessitate the market value rising to $8.5 trillion, twice that of Nvidia, currently the world’s most valuable company.
Additionally, sales of all Tesla vehicles would need to eventually reach 20 million, nearly triple the cumulative sales since its establishment over two decades ago. Musk would also need to significantly expand Tesla’s robot and robotaxi sectors by selling a million bots and a million driverless cabs, with the latter business only recently initiating its taxi service and currently trailing competitors like Waymo.
Musk would also need to remain with Tesla for at least seven and a half years to cash out on any stock, and 10 years to earn the full amount.
Musk has been one of the richest people in the world for several years. He is currently estimated to be worth more than $400 billion by Forbes magazine.
A condition of the 11th and 12th tranches of the plan includes Musk coming up with a framework for someone to succeed him as CEO.
The plunge in Tesla sales this year was largely due to blowback over Musk’s affiliation with President Donald Trump. Tesla also faces intensifying competition from the big Detroit automakers and particularly from China.
Tesla sales have fallen precipitously in Europe after Musk aligned with a far-right political party in German. Sales plunged 40% in July in the 27 European Union countries compared with the year earlier even as sales overall of electric vehicle soared, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. Meanwhile sales of Chinese rival BYD continued to climb fast, grabbing 1.1% market share of all car sales in the month versus Tesla’s 0.7%.
Without a reversal of those trends, meeting the financial goals could prove especially difficult. In its most recent quarter, Tesla reported that quarterly profits plunged from $1.39 billion to $409 million. Revenue also fell and the company came up short of even the lowered expectations on Wall Street.
Investors have grown increasingly worried about the trajectory of the company after Musk had spent so much time in Washington this year, becoming one of the most prominent officials in the Trump administration in its bid to slash the size of the U.S. government.
Even bulls on the stock are not convinced the new pay incentive will keep Musk, who frequently posts on his X social media platform, from saying things that alienate potential buyers.
Said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, “Fixing the Musk brand damage remains a work in progress.” Even so, Ives told clients, “We believe this was the smart move by the Board as the biggest asset for Tesla is Musk.”
In January 2024, a Delaware judge threw out Musk’s previous pay package, worth $44.9 billion at the time. Investors voted to restore that compensation package at Tesla’s last shareholders meeting on June 13 of last year. But late last year the package was revoked for a second time. Tesla has appealed the ruling. Last month, Tesla said that it gave Musk a stock grant of $29 billion as a reward for years of “transformative and unprecedented” growth — despite the drop in sales and profits — and noting that the CEO hadn’t been paid in years.
The EV company is set to hold its annual shareholders meeting on Nov. 6, where investors will vote on the new pay package. Musk would also receive more voting power over Tesla under the proposed plan. Musk has said that he needed more shares and control so he couldn’t be ousted by shareholder activists. If he does hit all the goals, Musk would own about quarter of the company’s shares, up from 13% today.
Tesla’s stock nearly 3% in afternoon trading.
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