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Elon Musk may leave Tesla as CEO if his $1 trillion pay package is rejected, with Chair Robyn Denholm stressing his leadership is vital amid criticism from ISS and Glass Lewis
The proposed package would grant Musk 12 tranches of stock options tied to ambitious targets, including a market capitalisation of $8.5 trillion and milestones in autonomous driving and robotics. (Photo Credit: X)
Elon Musk could step down from Tesla as CEO if his proposed $1 trillion pay package is not approved, Chair Robyn Denholm informed the shareholders on Monday.
According to Reuters, the proposed package would grant Musk 12 tranches of stock options tied to ambitious targets, including a market capitalisation of $8.5 trillion and milestones in autonomous driving and robotics.
Ahead of the November 6 annual meeting, Denholm said in a letter that Musk’s leadership was “critical” to Tesla’s success.
Earlier, Musk said that the biggest pay package was necessary to protect his company.
“It’s not like I’m going to go spend the money,” Musk said on a call with investors Wednesday. “There needs to be enough voting control to give (me) a strong influence – but not so much that I can’t be fired if I go insane.”
CNN quoted Musk as saying that he needs to protect Tesla from two influential (but hardly all-powerful) research firms that advise shareholders how to vote – ISS and Glass Lewis, which he described as “corporate terrorists.”
“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, who have no freaking clue,” he said. “They have made many terrible recommendations in the past that if those recommendations had been followed, it would have been extremely destructive to the future of the company.”
Besides being the CEO of Tesla, Musk is also CEO of SpaceX and the primary owner of AI company, xAI, which owns social media platform X.
According to Reuters, Tesla’s board faces repeated criticism for not acting in shareholders’ best interests and governance experts and advocacy groups questioning its independence and oversight of Musk’s influence.
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
October 27, 2025, 21:16 IST
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