Elon Musk is set to become world's first trillionaire — if he hits these key business milestones
The radical pay plan could make Musk the world's first trillionaire in the next decade.
Nov. 7 2025, Published 3:17 a.m. ET
Elon Musk is the world's wealthiest man, and he is set to boost his income further to achieve heights that no one has ever reached before. Following its annual shareholders' meeting, Tesla has approved a plan that could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire by 2035, according to a CNBC report. The development comes just two days after New York elected a progressive democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani, who believes that the rich should pay more taxes for society's welfare.
On Thursday, over 75% of Tesla shareholders voted in favor of Musk's $1 trillion pay plan, Forbes reported. As reported previously, the pay package consists of a dozen tranches of shares, which will be granted to Musk if Tesla hits certain milestones over the next decade. The goals include raising Tesla's market cap from $1.4 trillion to a whopping $8.5 trillion. If Musk achieves the milestones, he would receive 12% shares in stock grants, which would increase his ownership from 13% to 25%. This, on paper, would increase Musk's net worth to $1 trillion if Tesla's worth rises to $8.5 trillion. Even if Musk fails to meet all the goals, he could still make billions of dollars, Reuters reported. The Tesla CEO could make over $50 billion by attaining just a handful of achievable targets laid out for him.
While the pay plan got the majority of votes, top proxy advisors Glass Lewis and ISS recommended voting against it, as per CNBC. Musk had previously criticized the two for their opposition, accusing them of being “corporate terrorists.” Musk called their advice to oppose the plane "asinine" as well. Earlier in September, a SEC filing from Tesla indicated that Musk had "raised the possibility" of pursuing other interests if the company didn't approve his 2025 pay package. At Tesla's quarterly earnings call last month, Musk further added that he won't "feel comfortable building a robot army [Tesla robot]" if he doesn't have "at least a strong influence," Forbes reported.
The approval of Musk's pay plan comes two days after New Yorker elected a progressive mayor in Mamdani, who wants to tax the rich. This shows that on one side in America, there are billionaires and President Donald Trump who celebrate the success of a small group of wealthy people, while on the other side, people like Mamdani propose plans that suggest employing higher taxes on businesses and the wealthy to pay for welfare programs, like universal child care and free buses, as per the New York Times.
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