Elon Musk Justifies Newly Proposed $1T Pay Package, Says It's Not About ‘Compensation’

The Tesla CEO added that he is not comfortable with a future where he could be ousted by an activist shareholder advisory firm that doesn’t own Tesla shares.

Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday justified his newly proposed $1 trillion pay package, terming it necessary to “ensure safety” if the company builds millions of robots.

“It’s not about “compensation”, but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots,” Musk said in a post on X. The CEO added that he is not comfortable with a future where he could be ousted by an activist shareholder advisory firm that doesn’t own Tesla shares.

Tesla proposed a new compensation package valued at about $1 trillion earlier this month. According to the new pay plan, Musk will receive no salary but will be awarded up to 423.7 million shares of Tesla in installments over 10 years when the company meets certain milestones, including an increase in earnings, vehicle deliveries, robotaxis, and humanoid robots.

The new package is designed to deliver approximately 12% more voting power to Musk in exchange for driving performance growth, including by taking the company’s total market capitalization to $8.5 trillion. Tesla shareholders must now approve the package.

Musk’s previous pay package, initially approved in 2018 and valued at over $50 billion, was voided by a Delaware court, which deemed it excessive, last year. Musk appealed the court’s order in March, and Tesla established a special committee to consider matters concerning Musk’s pay, including evaluating a new pay package.

TSLA stock is up 6% this year and approximately 70% over the past 12 months. 

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