Is Elon Musk worth $1 trillion? Shareholders get to decide

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Tesla shareholders have just days left to vote on whether to approve a staggering pay package for chief executive Elon Musk that could award him nearly $1 trillion in shares.Musk could leave the company if shareholders reject the package, board chair Robyn Denholm warned in a letter to voters last week.The pay proposal is tied to ambitious performance goals and is necessary to incentivize Musk to continue his work, Denholm said.

Tesla will hold its annual meeting Thursday.Shareholders have until 11:59 pm ET on Wednesday to vote on the pay plan, which was unveiled by the board in September.

“If we fail to foster an environment that motivates Elon to achieve great things through an equitable pay-for-performance plan, we run the risk that he gives up his executive position,” Denholm wrote in an Oct.27 letter.

“Tesla may lose his time, talent and vision, which have been essential to delivering extraordinary shareholder returns.”Musk is already among the world’s highest-paid executives, with compensation that dwarfs that of Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Palantir’s Alexander Karp.Musk is also Tesla’s largest individual shareholder with about 13% of shares, but has said repeatedly he would like more voting power over the company.

Business Tesla is asking its investors to approve a proposed compensation package for CEO Elon Musk that could be worth almost $1 trillion and is based on the electric vehicle maker hitting certain ambitious milestones over the next decadeIn an earnings call last month, Musk said he wants a significant stake in the company as he pivots toward artificial intelligence and continues to develop his humanoid robot dubbed Optimus.“If we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over that robot army?” Musk said to analysts.

“I don’t feel comfortable building that robot army if I don’t have at least a strong influence.”I...