Besides electric cars, Tesla plans to focus on entirely different products soon. To maintain his influence, Elon Musk is linking the distribution of what is likely the largest stock offering of all time to a significant increase in the company's value. The warnings of critics are being ignored in Texas.
A roar of cheers erupts as Elon Musk walks onto the stage. Chants of"Elon, Elon" echo towards the Tesla CEO as he addresses investors at the annual meeting in Austin, Texas. Many of the guests in the darkened hall raise their fists in the air, one shouts"Yee-haw" and waves his cowboy hat.
Musk, dressed in black jeans and a Tesla factory jacket, begins to speak, then stops and performs a short dance – a humanoid Tesla robot standing next to him on stage joins in."I'm going to say some things I probably shouldn't," Musk begins, chuckling."At other shareholder meetings, they probably fall asleep," he shouts to his investors."This one's a banger."
Musk has every reason to be happy. The 54-year-old now has the prospect of a stock package worth one trillion dollars. More than 75 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the compensation plan, under which the company must meet various targets for Musk to receive the shares. At the same time, Musk is securing his influence in the company for the next few years.
Musk's speech on stage shortly after the vote seems somewhat rambling. His upcoming dividend payment and political topics, which he usually likes to address, play no part. Instead, the CEO talks about recommending science fiction novels, wanting to preserve rainforests, and then comparing electric cars to cats. Finally, he moves on to the future scenarios he envisions:"Through robotics and artificial intelligence, we can increase the entire global economy by a factor of 10 to 100," Musk prophesies."Who knows, maybe there won't even be any money in the future," he says, laughing."I think what I'm really trying to say is: Hold your Tesla shares."
Musk is already the richest man in the world. The fortune of the South African-born entrepreneur, who lives primarily in Texas, is estimated at nearly 500 billion US dollars. Whether or not there will soon be an additional one before that figure makes no difference; it's too much money to ever spend – or so one might think.
But Musk apparently sees things differently. The atmosphere before the annual general meeting was correspondingly tense. The board threatened to resign if the share package, which would guarantee him a staggering one trillion US dollars – likely the largest stock transaction of all time – wasn't approved.
Musk's critics are going under.
Several weeks ago, CEO Robyn Denholm warned shareholders in a letter that Musk could leave the company if they did not approve the plan at the Tesla annual meeting. The issue at hand, she said, was whether shareholders wanted to continue"keeping Elon as Tesla's CEO and motivating him" to make Tesla "the leading provider of autonomous solutions and the most valuable company in the world."
The debate surrounding the stock package isn't the only thing that caused tension among shareholders and within the company beforehand. Elon Musk's – now terminated – chief advisor role to US President Donald Trump, parts of which were declared illegal, and his outbursts on"X" are a bitter pill for many at Tesla to swallow. The company's reputation has also suffered considerably. Many Tesla owners in the US have stuck a button on the back of their cars that reads"I bought this before Elon went crazy."
While sales figures declined in the first half of the year – just as they did in 2024 – and market share plummeted, particularly in Europe, the company has recovered."Last year was critical," said Robyn Denholm, Chair of the Board of Directors, at the Annual General Meeting.
With a revenue of $28.1 billion in the third quarter of 2025, a record is on the books. The manufacturer achieved its best quarter in company history with 497,099 vehicles sold. However, external factors also played a role. Analysts like automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhöfer see the expiring US subsidies for the purchase of electric cars as the primary reason. Until October, new customers in the US could benefit from a tax credit of $7,500.
The share price has also largely recovered after the slumps in the first half of the year. Nevertheless, the company is in a worse position today than a year ago. On the morning of the annual general meeting, the share price fell slightly: by 3.4 percent to a nominal value of 446 US dollars. What had also caused annoyance beforehand was the board's decision not to include eleven shareholder proposals on the agenda, which dealt with accountability and sustainability.
In fact, Musk's stock package is subject to conditions. To receive the full payout, a number of ambitious goals must be met. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Tesla's market capitalization must rise to $8.5 trillion by 2035, and the company must sell 12 million vehicles annually.
Two further points are even more ambitious: One million self-driving robotaxis are to be deployed – currently, there are only a handful of approved vehicles in Texas – and one million so-called AI bots are to be produced. These humanoid, all-purpose robots are intended to relieve humans of tasks in households, factories, and other businesses."They will be very affordable," Musk said in Austin. In mass production, the unit costs would drop to around $20,000.
According to Tesla's filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), this includes increasing Tesla's market capitalization to $8.5 trillion by 2035, selling 12 million vehicles annually, deploying one million robotaxis, and producing one million"AI bots." If he succeeds, his stake in the company would rise from 13 percent to at least 25 percent.
Some of the voting investors, such as the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, had strictly opposed the dividend payment and urged shareholders to reject the proposal. With a 1.1 percent stake, the Norwegians are among Tesla's ten largest shareholders. The concern: distributing this enormous sum would grant Musk excessive power with insufficient oversight. The dispute escalated even before the proposal was finalized. During a conference call, Musk referred to the investors as"corporate terrorists."
Musk's move is "outrageous," says one shareholder.
His motivation isn't solely personal enrichment: While the automaker is increasingly venturing into robotics and AI, Musk also sought shareholder approval for an investment in his AI startup xAI, founded in 2023. The company, which developed Grok, the chatbot integrated into the X, has raised over twelve billion dollars in several funding rounds.
Some Tesla investors, however, are wary of the company and don't want the entities to become intertwined."There are already significant conflicts of interest due to Musk's roles in other companies like xAI," Kevin Thomas, CEO of the Shareholder Association for Research and Education, told Business Insider.
Even during the annual general meeting, critical voices could be heard."Tesla needs to become a democratic company again, controlled by a board of directors," one shareholder interjected."We need to rebuild trust," said another. Musk's move was"outrageous." Their comments, however, fell on deaf ears.
Others take a more relaxed view: Tesla is currently valued at $1.3 trillion on the stock market. If Musk receives the stake because the extremely ambitious goals are achieved, the shareholders also benefit. A significant increase in value would therefore be a win-win situation for everyone involved. Elon Musk and the two-thirds majority of shareholders likely share this view. Their bet on the future is a bet on the company's CEO.
