Tech
ITALY-POLITICS-PARTY-ATREJU-RIGHT-FDI
(Andreas Solaro/Getty Images)

Tesla shareholders approve Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package

The voting results were announced at Tesla’s 2025 annual shareholders meeting Thursday.

Rani Molla

At its annual shareholder meeting Thursday, Tesla announced that shareholders voted for CEO Elon Musk’s much-watched $1 trillion pay package, with 75% voting in favor.

Tesla’s board argued that Proposal 4 — a performance-based compensation package granting Musk greater control over the company — was essential to retaining him and, by extension, ensuring Tesla’s continued success.

For Musk to receive the full payout, he and Tesla must hit a number of milestones over the next decade. That includes raising Tesla’s market cap to $8.5 trillion from its present $1.4 trillion, delivering a million AI robots, and deploying a million robotaxis into commercial operation.

The board didn’t announce shareholders’ decision on investing in xAI, even though it had more yes than no votes, thanks to member abstentions.

Proposal 7 argued that xAI’s AI expertise would complement Tesla’s autonomous driving and robotics endeavors, and would give Tesla investors a stake “in a major AI player, potentially yielding significant financial returns while fostering technological advancements that benefit Tesla’s customers and shareholders.”

Musk himself has said investment in xAI is something Tesla should have done “long ago.”

Ahead of the annual meeting, shareholders voted on 14 separate shareholder and company proposals, on topics that also included refilling Tesla’s employee stock option pool, ratifying an auditing firm, and performing a child labor audit.

Shareholders followed the board’s recommendations in all but one, voting for Proposal 12 to reelect each director annually.

More Tech

See all Tech
tech

Both companies are warning lawmakers that without a federal framework for autonomous vehicles — something Congress has debated for years and is now considering again as part of broader transportation legislation — China will seize the lead.

“The United States is locked in a global race with Chinese AV companies for the future of autonomous driving, a trillion-dollar industry comparable in strategic importance to flight and space travel,” Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña said in written remarks ahead of the event. “In the absence of US leadership on a national AV legislative framework, Chinese AV competitors will fill the gap and set the safety and technical standards for the rest of the world.”

Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy, for his part, wrote, “If the US does not lead in AV development, other nations — particularly China — will shape the technology, standards, and global market.” He added, “China will be the dominant manufacturer of transportation for the 21st century.”

The two companies face steep competition from Chinese firms, including Baidu, which operates a robotaxi service, and BYD, whose EVs offer driver assistance technology similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving and which has been outselling the US automaker.

Both companies are warning lawmakers that without a federal framework for autonomous vehicles — something Congress has debated for years and is now considering again as part of broader transportation legislation — China will seize the lead.

“The United States is locked in a global race with Chinese AV companies for the future of autonomous driving, a trillion-dollar industry comparable in strategic importance to flight and space travel,” Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña said in written remarks ahead of the event. “In the absence of US leadership on a national AV legislative framework, Chinese AV competitors will fill the gap and set the safety and technical standards for the rest of the world.”

Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy, for his part, wrote, “If the US does not lead in AV development, other nations — particularly China — will shape the technology, standards, and global market.” He added, “China will be the dominant manufacturer of transportation for the 21st century.”

The two companies face steep competition from Chinese firms, including Baidu, which operates a robotaxi service, and BYD, whose EVs offer driver assistance technology similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving and which has been outselling the US automaker.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.