Tesla’s Elon Musk might become a trillionaire; Austin protesters rally

More than 50 people gathered on the steps of the Texas State Capitol on Wednesday to protest Elon Musk’s potential $1 trillion pay package, which Tesla shareholders will vote on in Austin on Thursday, Nov. 6.

Politicians and organizers from local groups like Tesla Takedown and Hands Off Central Texas stood behind a massive yellow banner reading “Get the Musk Out” as they delivered speeches. In the crowd, Austinites young and old held signs depicting the Tesla logo, Musk’s face and stinging rebukes of the Tesla mogul’s rhetoric.

“No money for Nazis,” shouted one onlooker, prompting a chorus of cheers from the group.

“Elon is toxic, Elon is toxic,” another woman chanted.

Nick Mollberg, 42, said he is a fifth-generation Texan and an Austin native. He said he’s been showing up to Tesla Takedown events since the then-Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency applied a slash-and-burn corporate strategy to the federal government.

“I think that states like Texas get conned by these fake libertarians who are really just in it for massive corporate welfare,” Mollberg said. “We can’t just keep giving blank checks to these rich [expletive] who are coming here and exploiting us and extracting our resources and driving up our energy costs and injuring our workers — and in Elon’s case, directly defunding vital programs that the United States needs to function.”

Speakers at the rally included Zeph Capo, president of the Texas Federation of Teachers; Jeremy Hendricks, political and legislative director of the Laborers International Union of America; Andrea Michelle, organizer with Tesla Takedown; Melody Tramallo, vice president of Hands Off Central Texas; Bianca Guerrero, Hornsby Bend activist; Texas Rep. Vikki Goodwin of District 47; and Amanda Marzullo, civil rights attorney and candidate for Travis County Commissioner in Precinct 2.

Marzullo said she wanted to remind Travis County residents that they have some say in the city’s handling of Musk, and Tesla, in the Austin area.

“It’s something that people should be considering when they’re voting in the March primary,” Marzullo said. “I’m concerned that the commissioner’s court right now failed Travis County when they first voted for the Tesla tax rebates, and now we’re in a situation where they haven’t taken any formal action and they haven’t received any updates about the status of the rebates in a public meeting.”

Tesla’s gigafactory was lured to Austin with tax rebates in 2020, which were at the heart of some ire expressed at the rally. In recent months, residents have increasingly called for those multi-million dollar tax credits to end.

Marzullo said if she were elected as Travis County Commissioner in Precinct 2, she would call for “a full revisiting” of the role of tax rebate agreements.

“The presumption should be against them,” Marzullo said. “The county should only be making these deals if its clear from the outset that we’re getting concessions and contracts with enforceable environmental and workers safety protections.”

The compensation plan, likely the largest CEO pay package in history, will be the main item at the company’s annual meeting Thursday. If approved, the deal could propel Musk, already the richest man in the world, to trillionaire status. It would also put nearly 29% of Tesla shares under Musk’s control if he meets all targets in a 10-year performance plan.

The ambitious goals include deploying 1 million of the company’s humanoid robots and boosting Tesla’s market value to $8.5 trillion. The plan also would allow Tesla’s board to award Musk a portion of the shares even if he falls short — meaning the contingencies could carry less weight than advertised.

MORE MUSK: CEO Elon Musk’s future with Tesla at stake in vote on $1T pay package. What to know ahead of the vote

One of Tesla’s largest institutional shareholders, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), publicly stated it will vote against the pay package. Other shareholders are keeping mum on their plans.

Board Chair Robyn Denholm told shareholders in a letter that the company risks Musk quitting if the pay package isn’t approved.

“We run the risk that he gives up his executive position, and Tesla may lose his time, talent and vision. … Without Elon, Tesla could lose significant value, as our company may no longer be valued for what we aim to become,” she wrote to shareholders ahead of Thursday’s meeting. 

—  Karoline Leonard contributed to this report.