Tesla shareholders have overwhelmingly accredited a compensation bundle for CEO Elon Musk that might be price as a lot as $1 trillion in firm shares.

Greater than 75% of shareholders who participated voted to approve the plan, according to the quantity of help Musk has obtained for previous pay packages. Because the consequence was introduced, shareholders within the room at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, manufacturing facility started chanting: “Elon! Elon!”

Flanked by dancing Optimus robots, Musk stated Thursday that “what we’re about to embark upon will not be merely a brand new chapter of the way forward for Tesla, however an entire new ebook.”

Beneath the deal, Musk is not going to be awarded $1 trillion immediately. Nor will he obtain a wage. However he stands to make a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} and achieve extra management of Tesla if he helps the corporate obtain quite a lot of milestones and increase its earnings alongside the way in which. A few of these hurdles might be tough to clear. Many, although, are merely watered down variations of guarantees Musk has made for years.

The pay bundle is damaged into 12 tranches — overlaying operational, adjusted revenue, and market capitalization targets — each giving extra shares to Musk if these targets are reached. As an illustration, Tesla, which right this moment has a market capitalization of about $1.5 trillion, might want to steadily enhance that valuation and hit $8.5 trillion in a decade.

The vote adopted two months of aggressive campaigning by Tesla, its board of administrators, and plenty of of its executives. The corporate repeatedly fired off public appeals for shareholders to approve the bundle. Chairwoman Robyn Denholm, who is often media-shy, did a number of interviews with main information shops and had misplaced a few of her voice earlier than addressing traders at Thursday’s assembly. Tesla even ran tv commercials concerning the vote — one thing it doesn’t even do for its automobiles.

“Tesla is at an inflection level — I believe I’ve stated that 3,000 occasions over the previous couple of weeks — and this final 12 months has been a essential one in our historical past,” Denholm stated Thursday.

Musk inspired shareholders to approve the bundle as a result of, he claimed, it was the best strategy to hand him extra voting management over the corporate. He at present owns round 15%, however he’s threatened (a number of occasions) to depart Tesla if he doesn’t wind up with round 25% management. That quantity would insulate him from being pushed out and shedding management of the “robotic military” Tesla is constructing, Musk has stated.

Tesla stumped for the bundle partly by holding up the corporate’s “Grasp Plan 4” as a visionary assertion for the place Musk can lead issues. That doc, launched in September, was gauzy and unspecific — a criticism Musk even agreed with. He claimed Tesla would add extra specifics to the “Plan” only a few days after it was launched, however nothing has modified within the intervening months.

Tesla’s board of administrators put this pay bundle ahead largely as a result of the earlier plan from 2018 (price round $56 billion) was struck down by Delaware’s Chancery Courtroom final 12 months, after a decide dominated the corporate was not clear concerning the negotiation course of. Tesla has appealed the choice.

Earlier this 12 months, Tesla handed Musk $29 billion in shares to make up for the lack of the 2018 bundle, however stated it could primarily void that quantity ought to Tesla win on attraction.