Tesla shareholder meeting recap: Elon Musk gets his $1 trillion pay package

Tesla's stock inches back up, trading roughly flat after hours as the event ends with laser lights.

Tesla will have to spend "a lot of money" on training Optimus, Musk says. The costs will be in the tens of billions, he predicts: "It's a big number."

When asked if Musk's idea of sustainable abundance in the future will render all of his wealth obsolete, Musk says it would be "difficult to imagine that any humans will actually be in charge" one day, if "artificial intelligence vastly exceeds the sum of human intelligence."

Tesla's stock has gone up and done after hours as Musk continues to field questions. Just an hour ago, the stock was up 3%. Now it's down .4% after hours.

Musk teases the "most exciting — whether it works or not — demo of any product ever." Tesla is aiming for a new Tesla Roadster demo on April 1, he says. He predicts production will follow roughly 12-18 months later.

Musk has talked about this idea before. Tesla vehicles could offer a "massive distributed AI inference fleet," Musk says. With customer consent, the EVs could earn money while sitting in the garage, he says. "That will also help the AI in the car not get bored," he says.

Musk says it's "very difficult" to operate a public company, citing the exposure to litigation. But after some thought, the CEO says "maybe" SpaceX should be a public company at some point. He says he does want to find "some way" for Tesla shareholders to participate in his space company.

The rate of Cybcercab production will be dependent on regulatory approval, Musk says. "I'd like to thank Waymo for paving the path," he says. "It's very helpful."

In a hypothetical autonomous future, where car ownership won't be necessary, Musk predicts that the "total number of vehicles will decrease." That might be hard to square with for a company whose core business is making cars — at least for now.

It's clear a lot of the Tesla shareholders in the audience are big Musk fans — many are working in sincere thank-yous into their questions.

One question-asker thanks Musk and says that "we all care" about Musk's well-being and safety. Another thanks Musk for what he's doing for "freedom of speech."

Tesla vehicles and Optimus robots are a "natural fit" for building a moon base. The two products will also make it to Mars, Musk says, and will be a fit for a Mars city. The Cybertruck, too, he adds.

Musk confirms that the new Roadster, first unveiled in November 2017, is coming. It will be the "most exciting product unveil ever," he says, though it's not necessarily part of Tesla's mission of "sustainable abundance." Business Insider's Grace Kay recently reported that Roadster was at least two to three years away from production, according to a source familiar.

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While Musk has repeatedly said that Tesla is not just an electric carmaker, the CEO says he still believes vehicles are an integral part of his company's future. Musk repeats the line that this is "not just a new chapter for Tesla, it's a new book," and that includes "massively increasing vehicle production."

Before asking a question about wheelchair accessibility, one question-asker says, "Congrats on not having to show up to work for free anymore." The crowd cheers.

SOC Investment Group, the firm that led the charge behind the group of institutional shareholders that expressed concerns around Musk's pay package, said in a statement that the annual meeting shows a "breakdown in the EV giants' accountability."

The firm said that the company's growth hinges on "strong governance, independent oversight and transparent accountability."

"Maybe at the next annual shareholder meeting, we'll have Optimus take some of the questions," Musk says. The first question referenced President Donald Trump's election and asked for a larger event that people could attend. If Tesla does it, the shareholder says, it will be "bigger than Berkshire."

Musk commends the expansion of the Tesla supercharger network. The team did such a good job, Musk says, that other car companies chose to use Tesla chargers rather than building their own. "Sounds good to us," he says.

It was trading up around 3% after hours following the passage of Musk's pay package.

Musk says that Tesla is "probably" going to have to build a "gigantic chip fab."

The CEO says he sees no other way to get to the volume of chips the company is looking for without it. "Gotta be done," he says.

Tesla hasn't signed any deals yet, Musk says, but it's "probably worth having discussions with Intel." Intel stock is up 3% in after-hours trading following Musk's comments.

Tesla needs "inexpensive" and "power-efficient" chips for its robots, Musk says.

Musk compares Tesla to Nvidia. He says that Nvidia has to serve the "superset of all past and future customers," while Tesla only needs to make it work for its own software, Musk says. The Tesla chips will be made in Taiwan, South Korea, Arizona, and Texas, he adds.

Musk teases a video of the Optimus manufacturing line. The CEO says the cost of production per unit is around $20,000 "in current year dollars."

Engineering the forearm and hand of a robot is difficult, Musk says, as is "real-world AI" and manufacturing at scale. "Tesla is the only one that has all three," Musk says.

Tesla is set to start production on the Cybercab in April 2026, Musk says. The fully autonomous vehicle will have no pedals or steering wheel.

Musk says the goal is to reach a Cybercab production time of less than 10 seconds, before saying a five-second production time may be theoretically possible.

Musk says Tesla's Full Self-Driving technology only has "partial approval" in China. He says he was told FSD would get full approval around February or March 2026.

Musk says that he is confident that, in the coming months, drivers will be able to text and drive simultaneously, thanks to FSD. Some drivers are now turning FSD off to text, Musk says, which is "less safe."

Musk often talks as if he's just speaking in a stream of consciousness. Just now, he talked about Tesla's "new" mission that is "sustainable abundance." The CEO says he "ad-libs a lot of this stuff."

Musk predicts a world where "maybe there won't even be money," or that money is measured in wattage. The "infinite money glitch" remark about Optimus is similar to Musk's comments on a recent earnings call. He repeats some advice he's previously said during Tesla livestreams: "Hang on to your Tesla stock."

Tesla stock jumped 3% after trading hours, following the preliminary results of the shareholder meeting, which included the approval of Musk's pay package.

Musk continues to address the audience, chatting sci-fi recommendations and more.

Elon Musk hypes up Tesla's Optimus robot. He says that everyone will want "their own personal R2-D2." He expects tens of billions of Optimus robots "out there," and that they will "eliminate poverty." Safety is important, he says. He wants Optimus to be more "Star Wars" than James Cameron.

If you want a sense of what the atmosphere is like at a Tesla shareholder meeting, Musk says it's like a "cyberpunk night club" inside.

"Other shareholder meetings are snooze fests," he said. "Ours are bangers."

As Elon Musk approaches the stage, the crowd cheers. Tesla's Optimus robot also dances, which Musk says has "no wires."

• Elect three Class III directors: Approved
• "Say-on-pay" advisory vote: Approved
• Refresh of Tesla's stock-based comp plan for employees and directors: Approved
• CEO performance package: Approved
• PwC accounting firm appointment: Approved
• Eliminate certain supermajority voting requirements: Not Approved
• Tesla investment into xAI:*Majority approved, but many abstained. Tesla board will determine next steps.
• Tie leadership pay to sustainability metrics: Not approved
• Independent audit of child-labor risks: Not approved
• Remove a bylaw that requires 3% of shares to bring a derivative lawsuit: Not approved
• Change Article X, which governs how bylaws can be amended: Not approved
• Declassify board to elect each director annually: Approved
• Ask Tesla to replace supermajority voting rules for certain actions with simple-majority rules: Not approved
• More hurdles for submitting shareholder proposals: Not approved

Over 75% of voters who participated approved Musk's pay package. The crowd broke out into cheers of "Elon, Elon!"

Erhart says that while a majority of voting shareholders approved the investment into xAI, there was also a "significant number of abstentions." Erhart said the Tesla board will examine the "next steps."

It's not moving, but Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot is onstage to the far right of the presenters.

In a pre-recorded presentation, one Tesla shareholder asked voters to consider repealing the 3% derivative suit ownership threshold, which they said "stops proper oversight" and "tells shareholders that the board no longer wants to be answerable to them." At the end, boos could be heard.

Via an audio recording, Stephen Hawk, a Tesla shareholder since 2012, presented proposal 7 of the meeting: Authorizing Tesla to invest in xAI, Elon Musk's AI startup. Hawk said that Tesla should invest in the company "sooner rather than later," stating that Tesla has "always been an AI company."

Tesla's general counsel Erhart called the meeting to order at 4:25 p.m. ET. Polls are now open for shareholder voters.

Erhart says Tesla will now outline each proposal that shareholders are voting on. We'll also hear from some individual shareholders who presented proposals being voted on.

Board chair Robyn Denholm recaps Tesla's achievements. She says that Tesla was at an "inflection point" before listing Model Y sales, the robotaxi, and Tesla's energy business as high points. Denholm also says that Tesla's emissions avoidance will "only accelerate."

She starts by apologizing for her voice — she's been speaking to Tesla investors nearly "nonstop" in recent weeks, she says.

Brandon Ehrhart, Tesla's general counsel and corporate secretary, introduced the 2025 annual shareholder meetings. There are two parts to today's event, he says: 14 ballot items and then "Elon Musk."

Tesla executives are expected to outline the agenda, which will include hearing presentations from a small number of shareholders whose proposals are being voted on, and then announce the results.

The last time Tesla held a vote on Elon Musk's pay package, Tesla saw a 65% shareholder participation rate, and about 72% of the voters, excluding the CEO and Musk's brother, moved to ratify Musk's 2018 compensation package. Retail investors showed up.

For John Stringer, a retail investor and founder of Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley, one of the largest Tesla clubs in North America, Tesla's success and Elon Musk's leadership are inextricably linked.

"Everyone is super excited and pumped," Stringer, who is attending the shareholder event in Texas, told Business Insider, adding, "No one can really understand why people would vote against it if they own the stock."

Musk's mega pay package isn't the only thing on the agenda. Investors have also voted on a motion to authorize a Tesla investment in xAI, Elon Musk's AI startup that has developed the chatbot Grok. If approved, Tesla's board would decide the "amount and form" of the investment, according to the company's proxy filing.

Should the motion pass, it would be the latest indication that Musk's wide array of companies is becoming more intertwined.

Tesla's board has been pushing hard to get the $1 trillion pay package over the line. In a letter to shareholders, chair Robyn Denholm warned that Musk could leave Tesla if the compensation plan fails to pass, adding that this could cause the EV giant to lose "significant value."

"The fundamental question for shareholders at this year's Annual Meeting is simple: Do you want to retain Elon as Tesla's CEO and motivate him to drive Tesla to become the leading provider of autonomous solutions and the most valuable company in the world?" she wrote.

"Waiting for a big announcement at 4 PM EST today," Musk's mother, Maye Musk, wrote on X along with a photo of her first Tesla, which she said Elon bought for her.

It's not clear if she is referring to the potential passage of her son's pay package — or something else. We'll find out in less than an hour.

Some major shareholders disagree on Elon Musk's proposed $1 trillion pay package. Some of Tesla's most bullish investors — including ARK Invest's Cathy Wood and Wedbush Securities — have expressed support, while institutional investors like the state board of administration of Florida, Baron Capitol, and Schwab Asset Management have indicated they will vote in favor.

On Tuesday, Norges Bank, which manages Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, joined a handful of trade unions and state pension funds in announcing its opposition to the pay package. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is Tesla's sixth-biggest institutional investor. The two largest, BlackRock and Vanguard Group, have yet to say how they voted.

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If the vote goes Musk's way, he'll also be on the path to increasing his level of control at Tesla, which he has said is a must if he is to continue developing AI and robotics at the EV maker.

Musk has regularly expressed concern over his level of control over Tesla, telling analysts last month that he wouldn't feel comfortable "building a robot army" at the company without having more voting power.

"I just don't feel comfortable building a robot army here and then being ousted because of some asinine recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis," Musk said.

He said he wants an equity stake in the "mid-20s" to maintain "a strong influence" at Tesla, but still be fireable if he goes "insane."

The new pay package would allow Musk to unlock additional shares, increasing his stake to about 25% if all milestones are hit.

While Musk and his brother, Kimbal, didn't vote last year on whether to re-approve the Tesla CEO's 2018 pay package, they are free to vote on his new compensation plan.

When Tesla was seeking to ratify Musk's 2018 pay package under Delaware law (where Tesla used to be incorporated), the company said that the result was "conditioned on approval by at least a majority of votes cast by disinterested stockholders."

Tesla has since incorporated in Texas, leaving Delaware, and the company is not limiting the vote to "disinterested stockholders" this time around.

Musk's roughly 15% equity stake in Tesla increases the odds that his pay package will be approved.

In addition to voting on whether to reelect three board members —Ira Ehrenpreis, Joe Gebbia, and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson —Tesla investors are determining whether the EV maker should authorize an investment in Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI.

Musk has sounded open to the idea in the past and said the company would consider it if shareholders submitted a proposal. Multiple did, and while Tesla has a voting recommendation on all of the other proposals submitted by shareholders, it took a neutral "none" position on this one — likely in an attempt to insulate itself against potential future legal challenges over the idea of one company led by Musk investing in another.

Shareholders will also decide whether to carve out Tesla share reserves for rewarding and attracting top talent (as well as allocating 208 million shares to "address the uncertainty" over Musk's 2018 pay package, which remains snarled in a legal battle after a judge tossed it out).

Tesla and some of its executives have been on a messaging blitz as the shareholder meeting approached.

The company has paid for ads on X.com to promote the vote, released videos outlining the company's voting recommendations, and board chair Robyn Denholm has made media appearances to argue that it's only fair that Musk get his payday.

"The Future of Tesla Is in Your Hands," the company's "votetesla.com" website reads.

"We are at a pivotal juncture in Tesla's history, and the proposals the Special Committee has carefully designed and the Board has put forward will help determine Tesla's future. If you believe, like us, that Elon is the CEO that can make our ambitious vision a reality, vote NOW," the text says.