Elon Musk Warns He May Leave Tesla If $1 Trillion Pay Package Isn’t Approved

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2025 – Tesla CEO Elon Musk urged shareholders to approve his $1 trillion pay package, warning that he may not remain at the company without greater control over its future — particularly as Tesla moves deeper into artificial intelligence and robotics.

During Tesla’s Q3 earnings call, Musk said he needed roughly 25% voting control to feel comfortable pursuing the company’s ambitious projects, especially the Optimus humanoid robot. He jokingly referred to the robots as a potential “robot army,” emphasizing that he doesn’t want to risk being ousted from Tesla by shareholders or proxy advisory firms, according to reports.

“My fundamental concern with regard to how much voting control I have at Tesla is, if I go ahead and build this enormous robot army, can I just be ousted at some point in the future? That’s my biggest concern,” Musk said.

“It’s called compensation, but it’s not like I’m going to go spend the money. I just want to have a strong influence over the robot army we’re building.”

Musk criticized the proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis, calling them “corporate terrorists” after both firms urged investors to vote against his compensation plan.

Tesla’s Optimus project is aiming to create a general-purpose, bipedal, autonomous humanoid robot capable of performing unsafe, repetitive, or mundane tasks, according to the company. Further examples were not listed on the website.

He currently holds about 13% of Tesla’s shares, down from previous years after selling stock to fund his $44 billion Twitter (now X) acquisition in 2022.

Musk’s previous 2018 compensation plan is still tied up in a Delaware court battle, where a judge ruled that shareholders lacked sufficient information before approving it. The Delaware Supreme Court is currently reviewing Tesla’s appeal.

Despite the controversy, analysts expected shareholders to approve Musk’s new plan at the Nov. 6, 2025 annual meeting, arguing that keeping Musk engaged is crucial to Tesla’s long-term value.

“Without Elon, Tesla could lose significant value, as our company may no longer be valued for what we aim to become,” Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm wrote in a letter to investors.

However, opposition to the plan is mounting. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), one of the largest proxy advisory firms in the world, labeled the proposal’s size “astronomical.” Meanwhile, a coalition of unions and watchdog groups launched the “Take Back Tesla” campaign, criticizing Musk’s increasingly partisan political activity and conspiracy-laden social media posts, which they argued have damaged the brand, according to CNBC.

Shareholder votes on Musk’s new pay plan and other proposals must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 5, 2025.