Elon Musk could stand to become the world’s first trillionaire under a new pay plan Tesla released on Friday, if he manages to meet lofty corporate goals.
Musk’s compensation under the plan would come in the form of Tesla shares. In order to achieve that unprecedented thirteen-digit net worth, the Tesla CEO would need to massively increase the company’s market value over the next decade, according to the proxy statement released by Tesla. He would also have to stay at the company for ten more years in order to earn the full amount laid out in the package.
“Retaining and incentivizing Elon is fundamental to Tesla achieving these goals and becoming the most valuable company in history,” stated a letter from Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, members of the Tesla board, to shareholders.
The proposal must still be approved by shareholders. A vote is likely to be held at an annual shareholders meeting on Nov. 6.
The plan could face some pushback. In the past, Tesla shareholders have been reported as being critical of Musk’s political involvement and what they saw as the billionaire straying from his responsibilities as CEO. In 2018, the company’s shareholders approved a similar compensation package for Musk, although one shareholder objected to the package and filed a lawsuit against the company.
Legal challenges to the newly proposed package are also possible. In 2024, a Delaware judge shut down for the second time the 2018 compensation package for Musk, which could have seen the Tesla CEO receive more than $50 billion. Like the proposal released on Friday, the 2018 package was a 10-year performance-based incentive for Musk.
And raising the company’s market value is easier said than done. Over the last year, as Musk faced controversy over his ties to Trump and brief tenure overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency in the President’s second Administration, Tesla’s sales have decreased. The company’s stock value has also seen dips in recent months, affecting the overall value of Musk’s shares.
But if the pay plan is approved and he manages to achieve the formidable targets, he could as much as triple his already world-leading net worth.
What is Elon Musk’s current net worth?
Musk’s net worth is $430 billion as of Friday, according to Forbes, making him the richest person in the world.
A majority of that wealth comes from his ownership stakes in Tesla and rocket producer SpaceX, which he founded in addition to the artificial intelligence company xAI.
What are the terms of Tesla’s proposed payment plan?
Right now, the market value of Tesla is just under $1.1 trillion. Musk would need to increase that number to $8.5 trillion over the next decade in order to receive the additional shares that could make him a trillionaire. Meeting the goal would make Tesla’s market capitalization “approximately equal to the combined market capitalizations of each of Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet,” according to Tesla’s proxy statement.
Other milestones in the proposal Musk would need to meet in order to receive his reward include the deployment of autonomous taxis and humanoid robots, an inchoate industry Tesla is heavily investing in.
“Leading research analysts estimate that the humanoid robot industry could soar to approximately $4.7 trillion in global sales by 2050,” the pay plan states. “Consistent with such projections, Tesla is developing Optimus, a humanoid Bot, with the long-term vision of transforming labor and productivity both commercially and in homes.”
If Musk succeeds in meeting the goals, he would be awarded 423.7 million shares of Tesla stock. The additional shares could add roughly $900 billion to his current net worth.
Although the proposal is designed to retain Musk at Tesla for the foreseeable future and oversee a record-breaking rise in market value, it does not restrict Musk from his involvement in any of his other companies or political escapades.
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