Elon Musk has cemented his dominance over Tesla Inc., winning shareholder approval for a record $1 trillion performance-linked pay deal — one of the largest compensation packages in corporate history.

At Tesla’s annual meeting in Texas, roughly 75 percent of votes cast backed the plan, despite warnings from governance advocates and proxy advisers. The deal could eventually lift Musk’s stake to 25 percent of the company, further tightening his control of the electric-vehicle pioneer.

The result followed months of lobbying by Tesla’s leadership and marks Musk’s second major pay victory in two years. His earlier $56 billion award was struck down by a Delaware court in 2024, prompting Tesla’s move of its corporate domicile to Texas.

Appearing on stage to cheers from investors, Musk celebrated with techno music, neon lights, and two “Optimus” humanoid robots. “With AI and robotics, you can increase the global economy by a factor of ten,” he told the crowd. “Optimus is kind of like an infinite money glitch — hang on to your Tesla stock.”

Under the new 10-year plan, Musk will receive no salary or cash bonus. Instead, he will unlock stock awards in stages if Tesla reaches extraordinary goals: raising its valuation to $8.5 trillion, increasing earnings to $400 billion, and scaling sales of self-driving and robotic technologies.

Tesla’s three largest outside shareholders – Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street – collectively own around 15 percent of the company and are believed to have backed the package. Norway’s $2.1 trillion oil fund publicly opposed it, calling the award “pay for unchecked power.”

Critics argued the vote entrenches Musk’s influence while doing little to address “key-person risk,” given his growing commitments across SpaceX, xAI, and X (formerly Twitter). Supporters countered that Tesla’s valuation depends heavily on Musk’s leadership and his push into AI-driven robotics and autonomous transport.

Beyond the pay debate, Musk hinted at plans for Tesla to expand into chip manufacturing, revealing ongoing talks with Intel, Samsung, and TSMC to support production of the company’s new AI5 processors.