Which son will be the sultan’s favorite? In the harems of the Ottoman Empire, mothers schemed to get their offspring noticed by their father, even to the point of rising to the rank of favorite. In the same way, Tesla’s board of directors wants to ensure that its CEO, Elon Musk, uses his time and brainpower to develop the electric car maker rather than his other companies: SpaceX, xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. Not to mention his forays into politics. How to achieve this? In the Ottoman dynasty, this struggle for attention could end in bloodshed. With Musk “the Magnificent,” it’s money that flows in torrents.
On Friday, October 17, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended that Tesla shareholders, who are meeting for a general assembly on November 6, vote against the most generous compensation plan ever awarded to a CEO. Indeed, the directors have devised a package befitting the world’s richest man, whose fortune is estimated at 418 billion euros.
If, within ten years, Tesla reaches certain very ambitious financial targets, starting with a market capitalization exceeding $8.6 trillion, Elon Musk will be granted up to 12% of the company’s stock. That is the equivalent of $1 trillion. Before the opening of Wall Street on Monday, Tesla had a market valuation of $1.38 trillion.