Musk could become history's first trillionaire as Tesla shareholders approve giant pay package

NEW YORK (AP) — The world’s richest antheral was conscionable handed a accidental to go history’s archetypal trillionaire.

Elon Musk won a shareholder ballot connected Thursday that would springiness the Tesla CEO banal worthy $1 trillion if helium hits definite show targets implicit the adjacent decade. The ballot followed weeks of statement implicit his absorption grounds astatine the electrical car shaper and whether anyone deserved specified unprecedented pay, drafting heated commentary from tiny investors to elephantine pension funds and adjacent the pope.

In the end, much than 75% of voters approved the program arsenic shareholders gathered successful Austin, Texas, for their yearly meeting.

“Fantastic radical of shareholders," Musk said aft the last ballot was tallied, adding “Hang connected to your Tesla stock.”

The ballot is simply a resounding triumph for Musk showing investors inactive person religion successful him arsenic Tesla struggles with plunging sales, marketplace stock and profits successful nary tiny portion owed to Musk himself. Car buyers fled the institution this twelvemonth arsenic helium has ventured into authorities some successful the U.S. and Europe, and trafficked successful conspiracy theories.

The ballot came conscionable 3 days aft a study from Europe showing Tesla car income plunged again past month, including a 50% illness successful Germany.

Still, galore Tesla investors see Musk arsenic a benignant of occurrence antheral susceptible of stunning concern feats, specified arsenic erstwhile helium pulled Tesla from the brink of bankruptcy a half-dozen years agone to crook it into 1 of the world’s astir invaluable companies.

The ballot clears a way for Musk to go a trillionaire by granting him caller shares, but it won’t beryllium easy. The committee of directors that designed the wage bundle necessitate him to deed respective ambitious fiscal and operational targets, including expanding the worth of the institution connected the banal marketplace astir six times its existent level.

Musk besides has to present 20 cardinal Tesla electrical vehicles to the marketplace implicit 10 years amid new, stiff competition, much than treble the fig since the founding of the company. He besides has to deploy 1 cardinal of his human-like robots that helium has promised volition alteration enactment and location — helium calls it a “robot army” — from zero today.

Musk could adhd billions to his wealthiness successful a fewer years by partially delivering these goals, according to assorted intermediate steps that volition manus him recently created banal successful the institution arsenic helium nears the eventual targets.

That could assistance him yet apical what is present considered America’s all-time richest man, John D. Rockefeller. The lipid titan is estimated by Guinness World Records to person been worthy $630 billion, successful existent dollars, astatine his highest wealthiness much than 110 years ago. Musk is worthy $493 billion, arsenic estimated by Forbes magazine.