Tesla chair Robyn Denholm urged shareholders to back a proposed $1 trillion compensation package for CEO Elon Musk, warning in a letter Monday that the company risks losing “significant value” if the deal fails and Musk opts to step down as chief executive.
The plea to investors comes ahead of Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting on Nov. 6, when votes will be counted on the historic pay plan and other key proposals. At the heart of the board’s message: Musk’s leadership is vital as Tesla pushes further into artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous driving—and without a new long-term incentive, the company might not retain Musk, who has defined its trajectory over the past decade-plus.
“Without Elon, Tesla could lose significant value, as our company may no longer be valued for what we aim to become,” Denholm wrote, adding that Musk’s “time, talent and vision … have been essential to delivering extraordinary shareholder returns.”
If shareholders do not support the pay package and “fail to foster an environment that motivates Elon to achieve great things through an equitable pay-for-performance plan, we run the risk that he gives up his executive position,” she added.
Musk’s proposed $1 trillion performance award includes 12 tranches of restricted stock, each tied to ambitious milestones that culminate in Tesla achieving a market capitalization of $8.5 trillion, which is more than quadruple its current valuation. The goals also include operational metrics such as delivering 20 million vehicles as well as deploying millions of robotaxis and AI robots over the next decade.
