Tesla’s board says it’s “approve or lose him” ahead of the shareholder vote on Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar compensation plan. The vote is set to take place on Thursday, November 6.
Tesla’s board is once again dangling its favorite carrot: Elon Musk’s
potential departure. In a letter to shareholders this week, Chair Robyn Denholm
warned that without approving Musk’s proposed $1 trillion pay package, Tesla
could lose its CEO. You can read the letter here.
Tesla is at a critical inflection point. We need your vote ahead of our 2025 Annual Meeting on November 6.
Tesla shareholders, the owners of our company, will soon receive their control numbers and voting instructions from their brokers. This will enable you to vote.
We are…
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 18, 2025
“The fundamental question for shareholders at this year’s Annual Meeting
is simple: Do you want to retain Elon as Tesla’s CEO and motivate him to drive
Tesla to become the leading provider of autonomous solutions and the most
valuable company in the world?” Denholm wrote.
Tesla’s shareholder meeting is one week from today. Make sure you, and everyone you know who is a $TSLA shareholder, has voted. This is the most important vote in the company’s history.
Here’s how to vote: pic.twitter.com/hUUESFOmsm
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 30, 2025
The company has made this argument before. Last year, it was a $56
billion pay deal, the largest ever for a CEO at the time, and shareholders
approved it despite widespread backlash. Now, history is repeating itself, only
with a few extra zeroes and a looming sense of déjà vu.
A $1 Trillion To-Do List
Musk’s new package isn’t a lump sum. It’s a decade-long obstacle course
of performance targets that sound more like a sci-fi manifesto than a corporate
plan.
According to reports, Musk must meet 12
key benchmarks, from selling around million vehicles to producing 1 million
autonomous robotaxis. There’s also the small matter of turning Tesla into an
$8.5 trillion company by 2035.
There’s even a goal to ship one million Optimus humanoid robots, a
project Musk has been touting as the company’s next big leap beyond cars. If he
manages to tick every box, his stake in Tesla could rise from 13% to nearly
29%. That would make him not only the world’s richest person, but possibly the first
to hit a trillion-dollar net worth.
The Delaware Drama (and Why It Matters)
This latest vote didn’t emerge in a vacuum. Earlier this year, a
Delaware judge struck down Musk’s previous $50 billion pay package, calling it
“flawed” and the product of a board too cozy with its CEO. Tesla appealed and
then pulled a classic Musk move: announcing plans to shift its corporate
registration from Delaware to Texas, a state with far fewer corporate
guardrails.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, spent the end of Tesla’s earnings call pleading with investors to ratify his upcoming $1 trillion pay package and blasting the shareholder advisory firms that have come out against the plan. https://t.co/DJgrnTq5P9
📷: Andrew Harnik/Getty… pic.twitter.com/63Jo4edbLF
— Bloomberg (@business) October 23, 2025
Proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis have advised
shareholders to vote against the new deal, calling it excessive and overly influenced
by Musk’s inner circle. Musk, in turn, called them “corporate
terrorists.”
Musk referred to advisory firms urging shareholders to reject the package as “corporate terrorists.”
“I just don’t feel comfortable building a robot army here and …then
being ousted because of some asinine recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis,
who have no freaking clue,” Musk
said. “They have made many terrible recommendations in the past that if
those recommendations had been followed, it would have been extremely
destructive to the future of the company.”
Tesla’s Vote, Tesla’s Future?
The shareholder vote, set for Thursday, could well determine whether
Musk keeps the keys to his own empire. Denholm insists that without him, Tesla
could lose “significant value” and its role as a “transformative force” in AI
and robotics.
Tesla Shareholders: You want the best for Tesla?
Please vote with the Board’s recommendations on all proposals.Every vote counts, whether you own one share or many. Make your voices heard.
It only takes a few minutes.
All details on how to vote can be found at… pic.twitter.com/t0O6qjsY7X
— Déborah (@dvorahfr) September 23, 2025
Critics argue the company is already at an inflection point, and that
its problems run deeper than Musk’s motivation. Tesla’s car lineup is aging,
Chinese competition is fierce, and U.S. EV tax credit, which helped buoy sales
this year, are about to expire.
Meanwhile, Musk continues to split his time between Tesla, SpaceX,
Neuralink, The Boring Company, xAI, and X (the artist formerly known as
Twitter). The question isn’t whether Musk can make Tesla worth $8.5 trillion,
but whether he’ll actually stick around long enough to try.
The Trillionaire in Waiting
If shareholders approve the package and Musk manages to meet his own
near-impossible metrics, he’ll become the world’s first trillionaire. At
present, his net worth sits around $500 billion, according
to Forbes, so there’s still some pocket change to earn.
Between SpaceX (valued at around $350
billion as of late-2024), Neuralink, and his ever-expanding empire of
startups, Musk’s financial gravity continues to pull the market around him.
Even Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and India’s Gautam Adani are unlikely to catch up if
Tesla’s bet pays off.
Final Thoughts: Vote of Confidence, or Cult of Personality?
Tesla’s latest plea feels less like a corporate decision and more like
an intervention staged by true believers. The board’s message is simple:
without Musk, there is no Tesla. But that line has worn thin, especially for
investors who’ve weathered the company’s volatility , recalls, and erratic CEO behavior.
Still, the odds are that shareholders will vote yes, again. Not because
they think the package is fair, but because, as history shows, Tesla is as
addicted to Musk as Musk is to attention.
If he wins, he’ll be one step closer to becoming the first trillionaire
in history. If he loses, he might just take his robot army and go home. Either
way, the world will be watching on November 6.
For more stories around the edges of finance and tech, visit our Trending pages.
Tesla’s board says it’s “approve or lose him” ahead of the shareholder vote on Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar compensation plan. The vote is set to take place on Thursday, November 6.
Tesla’s board is once again dangling its favorite carrot: Elon Musk’s
potential departure. In a letter to shareholders this week, Chair Robyn Denholm
warned that without approving Musk’s proposed $1 trillion pay package, Tesla
could lose its CEO. You can read the letter here.
Tesla is at a critical inflection point. We need your vote ahead of our 2025 Annual Meeting on November 6.
Tesla shareholders, the owners of our company, will soon receive their control numbers and voting instructions from their brokers. This will enable you to vote.
We are…
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 18, 2025
“The fundamental question for shareholders at this year’s Annual Meeting
is simple: Do you want to retain Elon as Tesla’s CEO and motivate him to drive
Tesla to become the leading provider of autonomous solutions and the most
valuable company in the world?” Denholm wrote.
Tesla’s shareholder meeting is one week from today. Make sure you, and everyone you know who is a $TSLA shareholder, has voted. This is the most important vote in the company’s history.
Here’s how to vote: pic.twitter.com/hUUESFOmsm
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 30, 2025
The company has made this argument before. Last year, it was a $56
billion pay deal, the largest ever for a CEO at the time, and shareholders
approved it despite widespread backlash. Now, history is repeating itself, only
with a few extra zeroes and a looming sense of déjà vu.
A $1 Trillion To-Do List
Musk’s new package isn’t a lump sum. It’s a decade-long obstacle course
of performance targets that sound more like a sci-fi manifesto than a corporate
plan.
According to reports, Musk must meet 12
key benchmarks, from selling around million vehicles to producing 1 million
autonomous robotaxis. There’s also the small matter of turning Tesla into an
$8.5 trillion company by 2035.
There’s even a goal to ship one million Optimus humanoid robots, a
project Musk has been touting as the company’s next big leap beyond cars. If he
manages to tick every box, his stake in Tesla could rise from 13% to nearly
29%. That would make him not only the world’s richest person, but possibly the first
to hit a trillion-dollar net worth.
The Delaware Drama (and Why It Matters)
This latest vote didn’t emerge in a vacuum. Earlier this year, a
Delaware judge struck down Musk’s previous $50 billion pay package, calling it
“flawed” and the product of a board too cozy with its CEO. Tesla appealed and
then pulled a classic Musk move: announcing plans to shift its corporate
registration from Delaware to Texas, a state with far fewer corporate
guardrails.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, spent the end of Tesla’s earnings call pleading with investors to ratify his upcoming $1 trillion pay package and blasting the shareholder advisory firms that have come out against the plan. https://t.co/DJgrnTq5P9
📷: Andrew Harnik/Getty… pic.twitter.com/63Jo4edbLF
— Bloomberg (@business) October 23, 2025
Proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis have advised
shareholders to vote against the new deal, calling it excessive and overly influenced
by Musk’s inner circle. Musk, in turn, called them “corporate
terrorists.”
Musk referred to advisory firms urging shareholders to reject the package as “corporate terrorists.”
“I just don’t feel comfortable building a robot army here and …then
being ousted because of some asinine recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis,
who have no freaking clue,” Musk
said. “They have made many terrible recommendations in the past that if
those recommendations had been followed, it would have been extremely
destructive to the future of the company.”
Tesla’s Vote, Tesla’s Future?
The shareholder vote, set for Thursday, could well determine whether
Musk keeps the keys to his own empire. Denholm insists that without him, Tesla
could lose “significant value” and its role as a “transformative force” in AI
and robotics.
Tesla Shareholders: You want the best for Tesla?
Please vote with the Board’s recommendations on all proposals.Every vote counts, whether you own one share or many. Make your voices heard.
It only takes a few minutes.
All details on how to vote can be found at… pic.twitter.com/t0O6qjsY7X
— Déborah (@dvorahfr) September 23, 2025
Critics argue the company is already at an inflection point, and that
its problems run deeper than Musk’s motivation. Tesla’s car lineup is aging,
Chinese competition is fierce, and U.S. EV tax credit, which helped buoy sales
this year, are about to expire.
Meanwhile, Musk continues to split his time between Tesla, SpaceX,
Neuralink, The Boring Company, xAI, and X (the artist formerly known as
Twitter). The question isn’t whether Musk can make Tesla worth $8.5 trillion,
but whether he’ll actually stick around long enough to try.
The Trillionaire in Waiting
If shareholders approve the package and Musk manages to meet his own
near-impossible metrics, he’ll become the world’s first trillionaire. At
present, his net worth sits around $500 billion, according
to Forbes, so there’s still some pocket change to earn.
Between SpaceX (valued at around $350
billion as of late-2024), Neuralink, and his ever-expanding empire of
startups, Musk’s financial gravity continues to pull the market around him.
Even Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and India’s Gautam Adani are unlikely to catch up if
Tesla’s bet pays off.
Final Thoughts: Vote of Confidence, or Cult of Personality?
Tesla’s latest plea feels less like a corporate decision and more like
an intervention staged by true believers. The board’s message is simple:
without Musk, there is no Tesla. But that line has worn thin, especially for
investors who’ve weathered the company’s volatility , recalls, and erratic CEO behavior.
Still, the odds are that shareholders will vote yes, again. Not because
they think the package is fair, but because, as history shows, Tesla is as
addicted to Musk as Musk is to attention.
If he wins, he’ll be one step closer to becoming the first trillionaire
in history. If he loses, he might just take his robot army and go home. Either
way, the world will be watching on November 6.
For more stories around the edges of finance and tech, visit our Trending pages.
