Elon Musk’s $878 Billion Pay Package Revealed: Billions for Achieving Modest Milestones

TradingKey - Tesla’s board has recently proposed a record-breaking $878 billion compensation package for Elon Musk, claiming its goals are “equivalent to landing on Mars” — with the caveat that he earns nothing if they’re not achieved.

However, a Reuters investigation reveals that even if Musk fails to deliver revolutionary breakthroughs in autonomous driving or humanoid robots, he could still easily pocket tens of billions of dollars in rewards.

Analysis by research firm Equilar shows that Musk could secure $26 billion in stock awards by meeting just two relatively achievable targets — an amount far exceeding the combined lifetime earnings of top CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook.

Multiple performance metrics contain significant ambiguity:

• The goal of 10 million FSD (Full Self-Driving) subscribers counts users even if the system still requires human oversight.
• “Driverless” robotaxis may allow for remote human intervention.
• The target of “1 million robots” could include any AI-powered mobile device — not limited to humanoid forms.

Notably, the pay structure treats market capitalization growth and product milestones equally. This means achieving a rise in stock price or vehicle sales would yield the same reward as completing the much more challenging task of growing EBITDA from $16.6 billion to between $500 billion and $4 trillion.

Auto industry experts project that if Tesla maintains an average annual production of 1.2 million vehicles, its market value could grow from today’s $1.4 trillion to $2 trillion by 2035.

Analyst Seth Goldstein noted that if Tesla simply keeps pace with average market growth, its valuation could reach $3 trillion or higher within a decade. But he added: “Much of Tesla’s current value is already priced in based on future products that don’t yet exist.” He emphasized that for Musk to earn the full payout, the company must deliver tangible, transformative products.

While the board claims the plan is tied to long-term value creation, corporate governance experts warn it places excessive reliance on a single individual. Shareholders are demanding real, disruptive innovations. Otherwise, this so-called “Mars-level” plan may turn out to be little more than a smooth path to a $100+ billion windfall.