Musk Could Become World’s 1st Trillionaire with Tesla Pay Deal

Musk Could Become World’s 1st Trillionaire with Tesla Pay Deal

The News

Tesla is promising to award Elon Musk a $1tn payday if he makes the electric car aker the most valuable company of all time.

The company unveiled a new pay award scheme on Friday that will hand him hundreds of millions of shares if he can hit a string of ambitious milestones, including making Tesla worth $8.5tn over the next decade.

By 2035, Musk would also have to have sold 1m AI robots and have 1m self-driving robotaxis on the road.

The deal would multiply Musk’s existing $378bn net worth, which already makes him the world’s richest person by a wide margin, and make him the world’s first trillionaire.

The ambitious pay package would award Musk 12 tranches of shares for hitting a series of market value and business landmarks.

The first would be reached when Tesla hits a market capitalisation of $2tn, while he would also have to reach one of a series of other goals, such as the robotaxi or robot target, selling 20m Tesla vehicles, or posting annual profits of $50bn.

He would then receive further payouts, equal to 1pc of the company’s shares, for hitting escalating objectives up to an $8.5tn valuation.

To hit the final levels of the payout, Musk would have to hit all targets and be involved in planning for his successor. He would be 64 at the end of the 10-year period.

Reactions

“Simply put, retaining and incentivising Elon is fundamental to Tesla achieving these goals and becoming the most valuable company in history,” Robyn Denholm, Tesla’s chairman, said in a letter to shareholders.

What's Next

Investors will have to approve the award.

More

Tesla is currently worth just over $1tn.

This is more than double the market capitalisation of Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company.

Musk, 54, doesn’t receive a salary or bonus, meaning that if he fails to achieve the lowest rung of the scheme – doubling Tesla’s value – he would receive nothing.

The pay award is unprecedented and far higher than a similarly structured $56bn pay scheme in 2018, which itself was the biggest ever.

At the time, the targets were seen as close to impossible, but Musk achieved them several years early.

Last year, a judge struck down that pay award, leaving Tesla in a legal battle to have it restored.

UMass Dartmouth Running Back, 18, Stabbed to Death

Trump Vows 'AI Force,' Czar; Polls Name Change

Iran Sends Trump Three Conditions to End War

Faulty AI Intel Nearly Started War With China

German General Breuer Elected NATO's Top Officer

Nobel Laureate: War, Sanctions Crushing Iranians

Dutch Police Disperse Violent Far-Right Hague Protest

GOP Midterm Odds Fade With 45 Days Left

Maher Rejects Tarlov's Claim Democrats Are Less Crazy

Patrick Clancy Breaks Silence After Ex-Wife Killed Kids

Trump Cuts Park Staff, Diverts Fees to DC

Holocaust Heirs Sue LA Museums Over Looted Art

Trump's Fed Chair Hikes Rates, Defying White House

Miller Drives Push to Deport Illegal Immigrant Children

US Lifts Sanctions on Eritrea's Military, Ruling Party

Air Force Admits US Has Space Weapons

Turkey Revokes License of Iran's Mellat Bank

Billionaire Ratcliffe Blasts Britain Over Immigration, Taxes

Navajo Nation Flash Flood Kills Three

Explosions Over Riyadh Trigger Saudi Air Alerts