As expected, Tesla (TSLA) announced at its general meeting in Austin, Texas, that shareholders approved CEO Elon Musk’s pay package, which could reach $1 trillion in overall compensation.
Tesla said Musk’s package passed with over 75% approval.
“I’d like to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported the shareholder votes,” Musk said at the meeting. “I super appreciate it.”
This year’s package — revealed in early September — would grant Musk 12 massive tranches of stock options tied to targets the board argues are aggressive.
Tesla stock rose 2% after the results of the vote were announced.
Prior to approval of the latest plan, Musk held a 13% stake in Tesla after various share sales over the past couple of years, but he hasn’t been “paid” in years, he said. His 2018 pay package is embroiled in a lawsuit in Delaware, where shareholders alleged they didn’t have enough information to properly vet the compensation awarded by the board, and a trial judge agreed. The Delaware Supreme Court is currently weighing the merits of Tesla’s appeal.
Musk had previously said that he was uncomfortable leading Tesla without at least a 20% share of voting power, which the new package provides. Tesla chair Robyn Denholm said the new package was needed to motivate Musk in his Tesla duties and keep him in place as CEO. Musk threatened in the past that he would develop products like AI and robotics outside of Tesla if he didn’t receive the control he desired.
Just this week, Norway’s $1.9 trillion sovereign wealth fund, which holds a 1.2% stake in the carmaker, voted against CEO Elon Musk’s new compensation package, arguing that the “total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk” were key concerns that needed to be addressed.
Tesla’s other shareholders — both institutional and retail — felt otherwise.
In other news, Tesla shareholders reelected the three directors up for election: Ira Ehrenpreis, Joe Gebbia, and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson.
Tesla also said a majority of shareholders approved a proposal to invest in xAI, Elon Musk’s AI startup, but there was a substantial number of “abstain” votes, so the board said it will review the proposal further.
In a presentation following the results announcement, Elon Musk announced that Tesla will build a 1 million-unit Optimus production line at its factory in Fremont, Calif., and eventually a 10 million-unit line at Giga Texas in Austin.
Tesla also revealed that Cybercab robotaxi production would begin in April 2026, and that Miami, Dallas, Phoenix, and Las Vegas would be the next cities to test Tesla’s robotaxi service.
In terms of new products, Musk announced that the new Tesla Roadster will be revealed on April 1, 2026, with production 12 to 18 months after that.
