Elon Musk Gets The Biggest Salary Package In History, Can Raup Tens Of Billion Dollars Even Though He Can't Reach Tesla's Ambitious Target

Elon Musk, promised a giant salary with easy targets (photo: x @elonmusk)

JAKARTA Elon Musk is back in the spotlight after the Tesla Inc Board of Directors offered the largest compensation package in the history of modern corporations. Based on an official proposal approved in September 2025, Musk has the potential to obtain US$878 billion (Rp14.5 quadrillion) compensation in stock over a ten-year period, with a series of targets referred to as Mars-shot milestones', a large target described as equivalent to efforts to change the world.

However, the results of Reuters' analysis revealed that Musk could still receive tens of billions of US dollars even though it did not meet most of these highly ambitious targets. Based on a review of the company's documents and the opinion of more than a dozen experts in the field of executive compensation, company valuations, robotics, and autonomous vehicles, Musk could earn more than 50 billion US dollars (Rp829.3 trillion) by achieving only a small part of the relatively easy target.

Bahkan, jika Musk hanya berhasil memenuhi dua dari target paling ringan serta mencapai pertumbuhan saham yang moderat, ia tetap berpotensi memperoleh 26 miliar dolar AS (Rp431,2 triliun), jumlah yang melampaui total pendapatan seumur hidup delapan CEO dengan bayaran tertinggi di dunia, termasuk Mark Zuckerberg (Meta Platforms), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Tim Cook (Apple), dan Jensen Huang (Nvidia).

Easy Target Sales Achieved

According to four automotive experts, the vehicle sales target set by Tesla is considered relatively easy to achieve. In the proposal, Musk will receive US$8.2 billion in share compensation if Tesla manages to sell an average of 1.2 million cars per year over the next decade, provided the company's market valuation increases from US$1.4 trillion to US$2 trillion in 2035. This amount is even lower than Tesla's sales in 2024 which reached 1.7 million units.

On Tuesday 7 October, Tesla announced the launch of a lower-cost version of the Model Y and Model 3, two of the company's best-selling vehicles, in an attempt to reverse the global sales decline trend.

In addition to the sales target, there are three other product development targets that are considered too common and do not have clear technical benchmarks. This has the potential to provide Musk with a wide range of interpretation space to keep getting large compensation without actually presenting significant innovations to Tesla's product lines.

Definition Of Escape On Technology Target

One of the most highlighted targets is the achievement of 10 million subscribers for the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, a software that currently still requires human intervention in its operation. In the proposal, there are no conditions requiring that the system is truly capable of fully autonomous driving. Tesla only needs to meet the criteria for a sophisticated driving system terms that do not have a standard definition in the automotive industry.

Law and autonomous technology experts assess that this target can be achieved easily if Tesla lowers the subscription price of FSD, which is currently priced at 8,000 US dollars in advance or 99 US dollars per month. In comparison, Tesla's main competitor in China, BYD, has offered a similar system at no additional cost.

Another target set is the launch of one million units of human driverless robotics in the vehicle. However, a number of experts say this provision is still open to interpretation, including the possible use of remote operators or backup drivers in passenger seats A practice that Tesla has currently implemented in a trial of small-scale robotics in Austin, Texas.

In addition, the contract also includes a target production of one million robotic units. Although many consider this target to refer to the humanoid optimized robot project, the definition in Tesla's official document does not explicitly mention the term humanoid'. The phrase used is robots or physical products with mobility that use artificial intelligence. Robotics analysts think the description is too common and can cover various types of products other than human-shaped robots.

Potential Big Profits Without Target Profits

Based on a Reuters analysis, Musk has the potential to obtain 26.4 billion US dollars (Rp437.8 trillion) if he manages to achieve two product targets accompanied by a company valuation of 2.5 trillion US dollars. If three targets are met and Tesla's valuation reaches 3 trillion US dollars, the value will increase to 54.6 billion US dollars. Thus, Musk can achieve big profits without having to realize the fully autonomous vehicle'' the flagship product he has promised for more than a decade.

In a statement, the Tesla Board of Directors confirmed that the salary package was worth nothing' to Musk unless Tesla managed to double the company's value and achieve certain operational targets. Musk is also required to remain Tesla's executive for 7.5 years to receive full compensation. However, voting rights to the shares will immediately belong to Musk once the target is achieved.

Through social media platform X, Musk stated that the package is not solely related to financial compensation, but about sufficient influence to ensure safety in the development of millions of robots in the future

Risks Of Governance And Profit Challenges

A number of corporate governance experts consider Tesla's board of directors to be a high-risk decision because it relies too much on one figure. Wei Jiang, Deputy Dean of Business School, Emory University, said that granting Musk great authority created the company's monopoly of leadership'. According to him, good governance practices should involve an open selection process for the highest executive position.

On the other hand, Musk's biggest challenge lies in the profit target. Tesla set eight multilevel profit targets ranging from 50 billion to 400 billion US dollars for pre-interest revenue, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). As a comparison, Tesla in 2024 only recorded 16.6 billion US dollars.

Electric vehicle business, which is the main source of Tesla's revenue, is now under pressure due to rising competitions and outdated models. The only new model, Cybertruck, is considered to have failed to meet market expectations. However, Musk's compensation structure allows him to continue to earn huge payments through a combination of achieving light operational targets and increasing the company's valuation.

According to analysts' calculations, Tesla's valuation could reach $2 trillion with only an annual growth rate of 6.4% in the coming decade, lower than the average S&P 500 (8.5%) and Nasdaq (13.2%) index growth rates over the past three decades.

Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein assesses Tesla's valuation could increase to US$3 trillion in ten years if market performance remains stable. But he stressed, most of Tesla's current value is still based on future products that don't exist yet.

Only Musk Can Do It

The financial professor from the University of Southern California, Kevin Murphy, who was once an expert witness in his defense of Musk's 2018 salary package, admits that some Tesla targets are not too difficult to achieve. However, according to him, shareholders believe that only Musk has the capacity and vision to realize this major transformation.

"The question is not whether this package is excessive," Murphy said. "For shareholders, the answer is simple: they believe Elon Musk is indeed worth the risk and the reward."

With a controversial salary structure and a partially ambiguous target, Tesla's future now again relies on a single figure who has long been the face of the innovation and controversy of the global technology industry.