Tesla Shareholders Hand Elon Musk a $1 Trillion Green Light, But Not Everyone’s Applauding

Tesla Shareholders Hand Elon Musk a $1 Trillion Green Light, But Not Everyone’s Applauding

Elon Musk just got the green light for a pay package that could make him the first trillion-dollar CEO in history and Wall Street is buzzing.

At Tesla’s annual general meeting on Thursday, 75% of shareholders voted in favour of an extraordinary compensation deal valued at nearly $1 trillion (about £760 billion). The announcement was met with cheers and applause inside the Austin, Texas venue, as Musk declared, “What we’re about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of Tesla’s story, but a whole new book.”

But outside the Tesla fanbase, not everyone’s celebrating. Critics are calling the deal excessive even dangerous, at a time when the company faces regulatory scrutiny and cooling sales.

A Bet on the Future or a Gamble on One Man?

The new pay plan isn’t just about keeping Musk happy; it’s about keeping him at Tesla. The company’s board argued that without this package, the billionaire CEO could walk away a risk investors were unwilling to take.

To unlock the full payout, Musk must achieve ambitious milestones over the next decade, including:

• Raising Tesla’s market valuation from $1.4 trillion to $8.5 trillion

• Deploying one million self-driving Robotaxi vehicles into commercial service

If successful, Musk could earn hundreds of millions in Tesla shares, solidifying his position as the world’s richest man and perhaps the first to edge toward trillionaire status.

Yet the timing of this move has raised eyebrows. The electric vehicle market is tightening, global competition from China is heating up, and Tesla’s sales have dipped over the past year.

The Optimus Distraction

In typical Musk fashion, he used the big day not to focus on electric cars but on something far more futuristic: Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot project.

That didn’t sit well with some analysts and long-term investors, who wanted reassurance that Musk was still committed to Tesla’s core electric vehicle business, not just his growing empire of AI and robotics ventures.

“We wanted to hear about cars, not robots,” one shareholder commented online. “Optimus won’t drive profits next quarter, EVs will.”

Legal Shadows Linger

This isn’t Musk’s first headline-grabbing payday. A previous compensation plan, worth tens of billions, had already made him the richest person alive after Tesla’s value skyrocketed tenfold. But that deal was struck down earlier this year by a Delaware court, which ruled that Tesla’s board was too cozy with Musk to make an impartial decision.

Since then, Tesla has shifted its corporate registration from Delaware to Texas, a move seen by many as Musk’s way of escaping stricter governance oversight. The Delaware Supreme Court is still reviewing the earlier ruling, but Thursday’s shareholder vote effectively reaffirms investor loyalty to Musk, despite the controversy.

Regulators and Reality Checks

Meanwhile, US authorities are investigating Tesla’s self-driving software after several vehicles allegedly ran red lights and drifted into oncoming traffic, resulting in accidents. Musk has been promoting full autonomy as Tesla’s next big leap, but regulators aren’t convinced it’s ready.

Still, the stock market seems unbothered. Tesla shares rose slightly after the announcement and have surged over 60% in the past six months, largely driven by investor optimism about AI integration and upcoming Robotaxi launches.

The Cult of Musk Lives On

For many Tesla supporters, Musk remains untouchable, a visionary whose risk-taking continues to reshape industries. For critics, he’s a symbol of unchecked corporate power and the growing cult of the celebrity CEO.

Whichever way you see it, the $1 trillion package signals one thing clearly: Tesla isn’t just betting on electric cars, it’s betting on Elon Musk himself.

As one X (formerly Twitter) user put it, “Musk doesn’t just drive Tesla, he is Tesla.”

And with that kind of power, the line between genius and gamble has never looked thinner.

{Source: News Central}

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