Tesla Inc. shareholders officially approved CEO Musk's compensation plan of up to 1 trillion dollars on 11/6, with over 75% of shareholders supporting this decision. After the news broke, Cathie Wood, founder of ARK Invest, who has always supported Tesla, stated: "Musk is indeed worth it."
Musk is expected to become the world's first trillionaire
This compensation plan gives Musk the opportunity to increase his personal stake to over 25% and become the first 'trillionaire' in history. However, to receive this reward, he must achieve several goals:
To elevate Tesla's market value to 8.5 trillion dollars.
To rescue the recent soft sales of electric vehicles.
Successfully mass-produced the self-driving taxi 'Cybercab' and the humanoid robot 'Optimus'.
Assuming all targets are met, Musk's stake in Tesla will reach about 2.4 trillion dollars, five times higher than the current net assets of 460 billion dollars, even surpassing the total GDP of 7 countries among more than 190 countries worldwide.
To build the Terafab chip factory, accelerating the advancement of self-driving cars and robots
Musk stated that in the coming years, he will focus on three major directions: the Optimus robot, the Semi electric truck, and the Cybercab self-driving taxi. He also mentioned that Tesla may build its own chip factory called 'Terafab', and he stated:
"Even if we combine the best production capacity of suppliers like Samsung and TSMC, it is still not enough to meet current demand, so we might have to build a super chip factory ourselves, much larger than the original Gigafactory."
Institutional voting was divided, but retail investors were almost overwhelmingly supportive.
Despite the voting results overwhelmingly in favor, the process was not without controversy:
Norges Bank: The ninth largest shareholder of Tesla, expressed opposition.
Advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis: Both recommended shareholders to vote against, citing excessive amounts and dilution of shares.
Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm frequently emphasized in the media:
"This is not just a vote of confidence in Musk; it is a crucial vote for whether Tesla can continue to innovate."
Musk himself also personally called for action during the earnings report meeting:
"If I don't get 25% of the shares, I won't feel at ease letting the company build a robot army."
In the end, several large institutions switched to support, including Schwab Asset Management and the Florida Retirement Fund.
Investment in the xAI proposal, majority of shareholders in favor but requires further discussion.
Tesla also announced a 'non-binding proposal' to invest in Musk's AI company xAI.
Although the number of votes in favor exceeded those against, the number of abstentions was too high, resulting in the outcome still undecided. The company stated it would further discuss the execution details. If ultimately approved, Tesla might invest an amount up to 5 billion dollars, as determined by the board as 'appropriate amount and form'.
ARK's Cathie Wood: This is what Musk deserves.
Cathie Wood, founder of ARK Invest, who has always openly supported Musk in the media, holds about 978 million dollars worth of Tesla stock. She mentioned this news in a recent interview:
"This is a person who has rewritten the industry with the most vision and execution on Earth; Musk truly deserves this compensation."
Although the news led to a 3.5% drop in TSLA's stock price, since Trump's tariff policy was introduced this year, impacting the global economy, Tesla has also been affected, with the stock price once dropping to 214 dollars this year, but due to benefits from the AI wave and other influences, the stock price skyrocketed to 474 dollars, an increase of about 121%.
This article about Tesla shareholders approving Musk's 1 trillion dollar compensation plan, ARK's Wood: He truly deserves it, first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.
