Featured Image Credit: Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty
Elon Musk already dominates the global wealth rankings by a gigantic margin, having made history this year as the first person ever to surpass $500 billion in net worth.
But his wealth is only going up, as Tesla shareholders have greenlit an extraordinary $1 trillion (£820 billion) compensation deal for the CEO, making it the largest executive pay package in corporate history.
The proposal secured 75% approval at the company's annual meeting in Austin, Texas, with votes from both Elon and his brother Kimbal, who is also on the company's board.
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However, it wasn't without a catch as Musk must meet four demanding conditions before receiving the phenomenal figure, which are in line with Tesla's performance.
As part of the plan's structure, Musk will gain up to 12% of Tesla's shares, provided the company achieves a market value of $8.5 trillion (£7 trillion) and hits specific performance targets over the coming decade.
One of the conditions is that one million robotaxis and one million Optimus robots need to be placed into commercial operation and deployed.
The board defended the record amount by arguing that keeping Musk was vital to Tesla's progress in artificial intelligence, robotics, and self-driving technology.
Without approval, Tesla risked losing 'his time, talent, and vision' to his other ventures, Chair Robyn Denholm claimed.
The package's magnitude is nearly impossible to grasp. It would be over 790 years of spending $40 (£32) every second to exhaust a trillion dollars.
It exceeds Switzerland's GDP of approximately $900 billion (£738 billion) and represents roughly 2.5% of total US GDP.
With that capital, the Tesla CEO could supposedly buy every vehicle sold in the United States annually, or he could acquire global corporations like Coca-Cola, Toyota, and Royal Caribbean several times over. Together, these corporations represent industries across dozens of countries, spanning the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
The package would also reportedly cover 333 JPMorgan Chase skyscrapers or 2,000 multimillion-pound luxury yachts.
With $1 trillion available, Musk could purchase or control corporations operating throughout more than half the world's major economies.
If he purchased the combined market capitalisations of Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford, and General Motors, the SpaceX founder would dominate the global automotive sector.
By this calculation, Musk could shape economic systems representing half the world's active markets, which is more financial power than any individual has ever held in history. Whether it's energy, technology or cars, he'd have the money to buy into almost anything.
