Tesla shareholders recently approved Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package. However, the paycheck comes with strings attached. Currently the world’s richest person, Musk will need to hit a series of ambitious growth and performance targets to actually unlock the full payout, including major milestones in Tesla’s market value, revenue, and profitability. Acknowledging that the goal outlined as part of his $1 trillion pay package is a “tall order”, Elon Musk has shared an open invite to buy Tesla shares.Musk quoted a post by Phil Beisel – Senior Director at Rivian where he highlighted the audacious scale of Elon Musk’s 2025 Tesla compensation plan. Beisel wrote:“The final boss in Musk’s 2025 Comp Plan is achieving $400B in EBITDA.Perspective:$238.24 billion: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) achieved the highest annual EBITDA on record in 2022, driven by elevated global oil prices, higher sales volumes, and strong refining margins amid geopolitical tensions and post-pandemic demand recovery.This figure surpasses other major companies like ExxonMobil ($102.59 billion in 2022) and NVIDIA ($34.48 billion in fiscal 2024).For context, Aramco’s 2023 EBITDA was approximately $236.81 billion, still leading but lower than 2022’s peak.Let that sink in.”Elon Musk replied, saying:“It sure is a tall order.Anyone can buy Tesla stock right now and come along for the ride. There will inevitably be some bumps along the way, but, with a truly immense amount of work, I think these goals can be accomplished.”
Performance targets for Elon Musk’s $1 trillion compensation plan
The compensation package for Musk consists of 12 separate stock grants. Musk would receive these shares if Tesla achieves specific performance targets over the next 10 years. These requirements include:Market capitalization: Boosting Tesla’s market capitalization from its current $1.5 trillion to $8.5 trillion.
- Robotaxi fleet: Putting 1 million robotaxis into service.
- Vehicle sales: Selling 12 million more cars.
- FSD subscriptions: Achieving 10 million Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscriptions.
- Humanoid robots: Producing 1 million humanoid robots.
Tesla’s board had argued that failing to approve the massive payout risked losing Musk to other interests, positioning the deal as essential for securing the CEO’s commitment to Tesla’s future as a leader in AI and robotics.
