Elon Musk's approval of his new compensation package could make him the first trillionaire in history
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has the opportunity to become the first trillionaire in history on Thursday thanks to a vote by shareholders that awarded the CEO of Tesla $1 trillion worth of shares if he achieves specific performance goals over the next ten years.mance goals over the next ten years.
Following weeks of discussion about his management record at the electric carmaker and whether any of them should have received unprecedented compensation, the pope, large pension funds, and small investors all made critical remarks.
Additionally, it happened just three days after a European report revealed that sales of Tesla vehicles decreased once more last month, with a 50% decline in Germany. In the end, the plan was approved by over 75% of voters during the annual meeting of shareholders in Austin, Texas.
"A great group of shareholders," Musk said after the final vote count, adding, "Hold on to your shares in Tesla." Musk won the vote easily, showing that investors still trust him despite Tesla's declining sales, market share, and profits—all attributed heavily to Musk.
As a result of his involvement in conspiracy theories and his meddling in politics, both in Europe and the United States, car customers abandoned the company this year.
Despite opposition from a number of major funds, including the California Public Pension Fund (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the United States, and the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Musk approved the unprecedented deal with 75% of the vote, drawing a standing ovation from the public at the company's annual general meeting on Thursday.
Two corporate watchdogs, the Institutional Shareholder Services Corporation and Glass Lewis, also opposed the package, which angered Musk so much that he called them "corporate terrorists" at a recent investor meeting.
Although Musk won a majority of the votes, critics argue that the board was overburdened by him, that his recent behavior was too reckless, and that the wealth on offer was exaggerated.
"He already has hundreds of billions of dollars in the company, and to say he wouldn't leave without a trillion dollars is ridiculous," said Sam Abul-Samad, an analyst at research firm Telemetry who has been covering Tesla news for nearly two decades. "It's reprehensible that shareholders think it's worth it."
His supporters argue that Musk needs a catalyst to focus on the company in his quest to turn it into a driving force in artificial intelligence, which uses software to power hundreds of thousands of Tesla self-driving cars—many of them without steering wheels—and Tesla's robots dotted in offices, factories, and homes, which perform many of the tasks currently performed by humans.