Tesla shareholders have approved Elon Musk’s unprecedented pay deal—potentially worth close to $1tn—with roughly 75% voting in favor at the company’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas.

The package, the largest ever granted to a CEO, ties Musk’s compensation to aggressive milestones over the next decade, including boosting Tesla’s market value from about $1.4tn to $8.5tn and deploying one million self-driving robotaxis. Achieving all targets would grant him hundreds of millions of new shares.

The vote followed intense debate. Critics called the plan excessive, while Tesla’s board warned that failing to approve it risked Musk leaving the company. After the results were announced, Musk took the stage to cheers, saying Tesla was entering “a whole new book” and spotlighting the company’s Optimus humanoid robot—frustrating analysts who hoped for renewed focus on Tesla’s struggling EV business.

Musk later said Tesla is “almost comfortable” allowing drivers to “text and drive essentially” using its Full Self-Driving software, which is under federal investigation following multiple incidents.

Despite a 62% rise in Tesla shares over the past six months, the company faces slowing sales, rising competition in autonomous vehicles, and concerns over Musk’s increasingly polarizing public image. Some investors, including Gerber Kawasaki, have trimmed their holdings, citing brand damage.

The pay deal was opposed by major institutional investors, including Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and CalPERS, but Tesla’s large base of retail shareholders helped secure approval. The vote comes as a previous version of the package remains under review by Delaware’s Supreme Court after being struck down earlier this year.

Supporters say Musk remains essential to Tesla’s future—particularly its AI ambitions—while critics question whether his sprawling interests and political controversies could hinder the company’s ability to meet its lofty goals. Photo by jurvetson (Steve Jurvetson), Wikimedia commons.