On November 6, 2025, amidst flashing, colorful lights and music in the massive Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, Elon Musk gathered Tesla’s shareholders for their annual meeting. Typically, a shareholder meeting is when shareholders (any person or group of people who own at least one share of the company’s stock) assemble together to discuss various company matters, such as electing the board of directors or executive pay.
This particular meeting, however, was far from an ordinary annual gathering. More than 75% of Tesla’s shares — not even including the 15% that Musk owns — have just approved of Musk’s one trillion dollar pay plan, an act that could potentially boost his net worth to become the world’s first trillionaire through the reward of 400 million additional Tesla stocks. Musk has maintained that he doesn't need the extra shares to increase his wealth; rather, he needs them to have more control over the business. "It's not like I'm going to go spend the money," Musk stated during a call with investors last month. "I need enough voting power to have a significant impact, but not so much that I can't be fired if I go crazy." Cheers and chants were accompanied by this move, while Elon himself personally expressed gratitude for the results. “I super appreciate it,” he said, while embracing the applause.
The move was down partially in fear of Musk’s threat of his resignation as CEO of Tesla. In a filing, Tesla's board stated that Musk had threatened to quit the firm if he didn't receive the assurances of control that the compensation plan could provide.
In order to obtain the full payout, Musk must accomplish a series of goals. These include selling 20 million more Tesla vehicles and one million more robots, getting 10 million subscriptions to Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature, bringing one million self-driving Robotaxi vehicles into commercial operation, earning up to $400 billion in core profit, and lifting Tesla's overall market value to $8.5 trillion.
Aside from the traditional car industry, the topics of AI and robots also surfaced in the meeting. Musk has a relatively optimistic outlook regarding the robot business, even claiming one day it might be bigger than the car industry. “I think it’s going to be the biggest product of all time by far,” he said, in a comment surrounding AI. “Bigger than cell phones, bigger than anything. I guess a way to think about it is that every human on Earth is going to want to have their own personal R2D2 or C3PO.” Even when talking about the car industry, Musk heavily pivoted towards Tesla’s full self-driving (FSD) feature and potential future into self-driving cars.
Optimus, Tesla’s innovative solution to the boredom of doing household chores, also surfaced as one of his main priorities. Currently, the target cost of Optimus would be around twenty to thirty thousand dollars apiece, cheaper than the average car. Musk also stated that the key objectives of Optimus include gradually replacing human labour and eliminating poverty, although the product is not expected to be released within the next few years.
However, not all voices were positive about Musk’s decisions. Some shareholders hoped that Musk would place more emphasis on the car industry — the industry that cemented Tesla’s name into the S&P 500, a list of the leading 500 companies in the United States. In addition to a slight drop in sales allegedly due to Musk’s recent political involvement, the self-driving function of the Tesla is also under scrutiny: following several instances in which the vehicles drove on the wrong side of the road or past red lights, some of which resulted in collisions and injuries, US regulators are looking into said technology.
Overall, this Shareholder meeting is a massive boost for Elon’s net worth and a harbinger of Tesla’s new market strategy as the company heads on towards its uncertain future.