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The world's richest man just got a chance to become history's first trillionaire.
Elon Musk won a shareholder vote Thursday that would make the Tesla CEO's stock worth $1 trillion if he hits certain goals over the next decade.
The vote followed weeks of debate over his management record at the electric vehicle maker and whether anyone deserved such an unprecedented salary, sparking heated comments from small investors to giant pension funds and even the Pope.
In the end, more than 75 percent of voting shareholders meeting at the company's headquarters in Austin, Texas, approved the plan.
“A fantastic group of shareholders,” Musk said after the final vote was tallied, adding: “Hold on to your Tesla shares.”
The vote is a resounding victory for Musk, showing investors still have faith in him as Tesla struggles with falling sales, market share and profits, due in no small part to Musk himself.
Car buyers left the company this year after he became involved in politics in both the US and Europe and spread conspiracy theories.
The vote came just three days after a report from Europe showed Tesla car sales fell again last month, including a 50 percent collapse in Germany.
Still, many Tesla investors view Musk as something of a miracle man, capable of stunning business feats, such as when he pulled Tesla back from the brink of bankruptcy a half-dozen years ago and turned it into one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Musk must achieve goals
The vote clears the way for Musk to become a trillionaire by giving him new shares, but it won't be easy.
The board of directors that developed the remuneration package required him to achieve several ambitious financial and operational goals, including increasing the company's stock market value to nearly six times its current level.
Musk will also have to deliver 20 million Tesla electric vehicles to market within 10 years in a fiercely competitive environment – more than double the number since the company was founded.
Elon Musk is already the world's richest man, but he could become the world's first trillionaire if his company Tesla hits a series of targets set out in a pay scheme revealed by the electric car company.
He also has to deploy more than 1 million of his humanoid robots, which he has promised will transform work and home – he calls it a “robot army” – from the ground up today.
Musk could add billions to his wealth over the course of a few years, partially achieving those goals, according to the various intermediate steps that his newly created shares in the company would give him as he gets closer to his final goals.
This could help him eventually surpass John D. Rockefeller, considered by many to be America's richest man ever.
The railroad titan is worth $630 billion in today's dollars, according to Guinness World Records, at the height of his wealth more than 110 years ago. According to Forbes magazine, Musk's net worth is $493 billion.
Critics' Explosive Package
Musk's victory came despite opposition from several major funds, including Calpers, the largest U.S. public pension fund, and Norway's sovereign wealth fund.
Two corporate watchdogs, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, also criticized the package, angering Musk so much that he began calling them “corporate terrorists” at a recent meeting with investors.
Critics argued that the board was too beholden to Musk, that his recent behavior had been too reckless and that the riches on offer were too great.
Supporters say Musk should be keen to focus on the company as he works to transform it into an AI powerhouse, using software to control hundreds of thousands of self-driving Tesla cars (many without steering wheels) and Tesla robots deployed in offices, factories and homes, performing many of the tasks humans now do.
Investors who voted for the payday had to consider not only Musk's promise of a bold, new tomorrow, but also whether he could disrupt the situation today: He threatened to quit the company, which investors feared would send the stock crashing.
As it turns out, Tesla shares, which had already risen 80 percent in the past year, rose 1.5 percent on news of the vote, to $447.27 in after-hours trading.
For his part, Musk says it wasn't really about the money, but about increasing his stake in Tesla—it will double to nearly 30 percent—so he can have more power over the company.
He said this was a pressing issue given Tesla's future “robot army”, and he suggested that no one else should be trusted to control it given the possible danger to humanity.
