Tesla’s board chair, Robyn Denholm, says the company may need to go as high as $1 trillion to retain its CEO, Elon Musk. She’s encouraging shareholders to support his proposed pay package, warning that Tesla’s growth and innovation could suffer without his continued leadership.
The proposed pay deal would grant Musk 12 tranches of stock, potentially worth up to $1 trillion, but only if Tesla hits ambitious milestones. These include boosting the company’s market value from $1.36 trillion to $8.5 trillion by 2035 — roughly double the size of Nvidia today. Other targets involve building 20 million vehicles, deploying a million robotaxis, and producing a million Optimus humanoid robots.
Ahead of Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting next week, Denholm sent a letter asking investors to back the plan. She cautioned that without Musk, Tesla might “become just another car company,” losing the innovative edge that defines its identity.
“Without Elon, Tesla could lose significant value, as our company may no longer be valued for what we aim to become,” Denholm wrote.
She framed the decision as a simple one for shareholders: Do you want Elon Musk to stay and continue driving Tesla toward being the world’s most valuable company and a leader in autonomous technology?
Musk’s Response: It’s About Influence, Not Cash
Critics have called the proposed payout excessive, given Musk’s current status as the world’s richest person. But Musk insists it’s not about the money — it’s about maintaining influence over Tesla’s future, especially as it moves deeper into robotics and AI.
“If we build this robot army,” Musk said, “I want to have a strong influence over it. Not full control, but influence.” He added that if the plan passes, his ownership stake in Tesla would rise from 13% to roughly 29%, giving him significant sway but not total control.
Musk noted that even with a larger stake, shareholders could still remove him if he were to “go insane.” He also accused ISS and Glass Lewis — two influential proxy advisory firms that recommended voting against the plan — of acting like “corporate terrorists.”
This isn’t the first time Musk has linked his continued involvement at Tesla to his level of control. Back in January 2024, he said he wanted to hold at least 25% of Tesla’s stock to feel comfortable leading its push into AI and robotics. Without that, he warned, he might develop those technologies outside of Tesla instead.
As Tesla prepares for its shareholder vote, one question remains: Is keeping Musk at the helm worth $1 trillion?
For Denholm and the board, the answer is yes — because in their eyes, Tesla’s future depends on it.
