Tesla’s trillion-dollar pay proposal for Elon Musk brings a long-simmering debate to a boil: can the CEO effectively lead Tesla to an $8.5 trillion valuation while simultaneously juggling a sprawling empire of other demanding companies? Critics argue his divided duties make the colossal goal untenable.
Musk’s portfolio of responsibilities is unlike that of any other CEO. He is the driving force behind the rocket company SpaceX, the brain-computer interface firm Neuralink, the AI venture xAI, and The Boring Company. On top of this, he dedicates significant time to posting on and managing the social media platform X, which he bought for $44 billion.
The new pay package can be seen as the board’s attempt to refocus him. By making the potential reward at Tesla so overwhelmingly large, they hope to make it his undisputed top priority. The sheer difficulty of the targets—including deploying millions of robots and robotaxis—would seem to demand nothing less than his full attention.
Ultimately, shareholders must decide if they believe Musk’s legendary work ethic and ability to multi-task are sufficient for the challenge. Is he a unique genius who thrives on managing multiple world-changing projects at once, or is he a brilliant but overextended leader whose divided focus will prevent Tesla from reaching its ultimate potential? The trillion-dollar question awaits their answer.