Copyright FOX 9
Tesla shareholders just approved awarding Elon Musk $1 trillion worth of stock if he hits certain performance targets in the next decade. The Tesla CEO, who is already the world’s richest man, could be history’s first trillionaire if he’s successful. The vote followed weeks of debate over his management record at the company and whether anyone deserved such an enormous payout. Elon Musk could be 1st trillionaire Dig deeper: More than 75% of voting shareholders gathered at the company’s Austin, Texas, headquarters approved the plan. The vote is a resounding victory for Musk showing investors still have faith in him as Tesla struggles with plunging sales, market share and profits in no small part due to Musk himself. Car buyers fled the company this year as he has ventured into politics both in the U.S. and Europe, and trafficked in conspiracy theories. The vote came just three days after a report from Europe showing Tesla car sales plunged again last month, including a 50% collapse in Germany. What they're saying: "Fantastic group of shareholders," Musk said after the final vote was tallied, adding "Hang on to your Tesla stock." Musk’s performance targets The board of directors that designed the pay package require Musk to hit several ambitious financial and operational targets, including increasing the value of the company on the stock market nearly six times its current level. Musk also has to deliver 20 million Tesla electric vehicles to the market over 10 years amid new, stiff competition, more than double the number since the founding of the company. He also has to deploy more than 1 million of his human-like robots that he has promised will transform work and home — he calls it a "robot army" — from zero today.
