At the 2025 annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, Tesla investors overwhelmingly approved two pay packages for CEO Elon Musk, including the restoration of his 2018 compensation deal and a new performance award potentially worth up to $1 trillion. The votes reaffirm support for Musk's leadership amid ambitious goals in autonomous driving and robotics. About 75% of shareholders backed the new package, tied to aggressive milestones through 2035.
The 2025 Tesla Shareholder Meeting, held in Austin, served as a pivotal endorsement of Elon Musk's vision. Shareholders first re-approved the 2018 pay package, originally valued at $56 billion, which had been voided by a Delaware court despite prior approval. This move addressed legal uncertainties and reasserted investor control over executive compensation, as described in meeting recaps.
The highlight was the approval of the 2025 CEO Performance Award, a 12-tranche structure potentially reaching $1 trillion in value. It requires achieving market capitalization milestones from $2 trillion (with Tesla's current market cap at $1.1 trillion) up to $8.5 trillion, alongside operational targets. These include delivering 20 million cumulative vehicles (Tesla has sold about 8 million to date), securing 10 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions or purchases (a recent NHTSA investigation noted 2.9 million HW4 vehicles with FSD in the US), deploying 1 million Optimus bots, and operating 1 million Robotaxis. Profitability goals span $50 billion to $400 billion in trailing four-quarter adjusted EBITDA.
Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm emphasized the package's role in aligning Musk with long-term goals in AI, robotics, and autonomy. Musk stated on September 23 that the structure ensures his influence over Tesla, particularly for scaling robots safely: "It’s not about ‘compensation’, but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots." Supporters like Baron Capital's Ron Baron called Musk "indispensable," while critics including CalPERS and Norway's sovereign wealth fund opposed it, citing excessive rewards and board ties to Musk.
A related proposal for Tesla to invest in Musk's xAI received more yes votes than no but failed due to abstentions counted as no under company rules; the board pledged to review the strong support. The approvals signal investor commitment to Tesla's "Sustainable Abundance" mission, encompassing EVs, energy, and robotics, though some pension funds highlighted governance concerns.
