What would you do if you had (almost) all the money in the world? Spend your life innovating by building rockets in hopes of taking us to Mars, float around the ocean on a luxury superyacht, or maybe spend all day online arguing with people on X.
While there's no denying the brilliance of Elon Musk in the tech industry, the world's richest man has been accused of not knowing what lane to stick to.
With his fingers in many pies, Elon Musk owns everything from X to SpaceX, The Boring Company to Tesla. All have faced their ups and downs due to this controversial figurehead, but in 2025, none have felt the pinch quite like Tesla.
In the aftermath of Musk stepping up as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Tesla stocks took a hit, there was vocal backlash, and things only got worse when President Donald Trump opened the floodgates with his One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
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If that wasn't enough, Tesla has had to deal with botched diner openings, a somewhat shaky robotaxi launch, and yet more tragic lawsuits. Musk is no stranger to arguing with Tesla shareholders, but after going to court over a $56 billion pay packet, and some shareholders threatening to sue over his robotaxi promises, the company CEO could be about to win big.
Tesla shareholders have just approved a record-breaking pay deal, with Musk's promises to turn Tesla into an artificial intelligence and robotics powerhouse clearly striking the right chord with investors.
Marking the largest pay deal in corporate history, the package could grant Musk up to $1 trillion in stock over the next 10 years. With an overwhelming 75% support, Musk celebrated the news by appearing on stage while flanked by dancing robots at the annual Tesla meeting at the Texas Gigafactory.
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Although required reductions would take the trillion down to just $878 billion, the fact that it's nearly double his current $491.4 billion net worth is truly wild. Speaking to cheering shareholders, Musk said: "What we are about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book."
They also re-elected three directors to the board, voted in favor of ensuring they hold annual elections for board members, and approved a replacement pay plan for Musk after legal wranglings delayed the previous version.
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But what does $1 trillion in Tesla stocks look like for the world's richest man? Firstly, Musk will have to jump through some pretty big hoops to trigger his reward. This includes Tesla hitting an ambitious market cap of $8.5 trillion, being able to deliver 20 million vehicles annually, one million robotaxis, and one million Optimus robots.
Either way, it looks like Musk is well on the way to becoming the world's first trillionaire.
We still ned to take account of the fact that much of Musk's wealth is tied up in Tesla stock and other ventures, meaning it's in a constant state of flux as we monitor how liquid shares become. Taxes, regulatory controls, and shareholder dilution will also play into things, while skeptics say Tesla doesn't treat the performance as 'probable of being met' for accounting expense reasons.
If all goes swimmingly, Musk could see his net worth climb to $1.5 trillion, but even if he takes a smaller 20% payout due to the lofty demands, $200 million in the pot isn't exactly bad.