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

Musk said he won’t build Tesla’s 'robot army' without stronger voting control over the company.

Naomi Jindra

Oct 28, 2025 — 2 min read

Photo of Tesla's Optimus Gen-2 Humanoid robot

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.

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