A major vote is coming up at the 2025 Tesla Shareholder Meeting, as investors will determine whether Musk should be given a new compensation plan that would award him up to $1 trillion and more than one-fourth of the total voting power within the company.

Tesla board chair reiterates widely unmentioned point of Musk comp plan

A successful vote for Tesla would see the compensation package get approved. But there is always the possibility of a rejection, which would likely see Musk leave the company.

“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 at last week’s Earnings Call. “That’s what it comes down to in a nutshell. I don’t feel comfortable wielding that robot army if I don’t have at least a strong influence.”

Tesla Board of Directors Head Robyn Denholm has been on somewhat of a PR tour over the past few days, answering questions about the compensation plan, which is among the biggest issues currently for the company.

Denholm told Bloomberg yesterday that Tesla investors need to be prepared for Musk to abandon ship if the package is not approved, which brings on a new question: Who would take over the CEO role?

That is a question Denholm also answered yesterday, bringing forth the conclusion that Tesla would not look for an outside hire if Musk were to leave the company. Instead, it would promote someone internally.

The way it was reported by Bloomberg and Reuters seems to make it seem as if Tesla is preparing for the worst, as it states the company “is looking at internal CEO candidates,” not preparing to do so.

Of the executives at Tesla who immediately come to mind as ideal candidates for a potential takeover should Musk leave, Tesla China President Tom Zhu and Head of AI Ashok Elluswamy both come to mind. Zhu has monumental executive experience already, as he was appointed to the role of Senior VP of Automotive back in December 2022.

He then returned to China in 2024.

It seems Tesla wants to align its future, with or without Musk, on the same path that it is currently on, and internal candidates might have a better idea of what that looks like and truly means.

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Critics of the proposed pay package, which would pay Musk $1 trillion if he completes every tranche, routinely cite the sheer size of the payday.

Of course, many skeptics leave out the fact that he would only get that money if he were able to generate eight times the value the company currently has.

Tesla gains massive vote of confidence on compensation plan for Elon Musk

For Musk, it might have a little bit to do with money, but that is likely a very small percentage point of why the compensation package is being offered to him. He has reiterated that it is more about voting control and overall influence, especially as Tesla dives into robotics.

He said during the Q3 Earnings Call:

“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. That is really the only thing I’m trying to address with this. It’s called compensation, but it’s not like I’m going to go spend the money. It’s just, if we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over that robot army, not current control, but a strong influence? That’s what it comes down to in a nutshell. I don’t feel comfortable wielding that robot army if I don’t have at least a strong influence.”

Tesla shares the idea that Musk is a crucial part of the company, and without him being awarded the voting control he feels he deserves, he could leave the company altogether.

The company is very obviously feeling the importance of the upcoming vote, as it has advertised and pushed heavily for the comp plan to be approved, mostly to retain Musk.

Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm said today to Bloomberg TV that it is crucial shareholders understand it is not about Musk’s potential wealth, but more about his influence on company decisions:

“So firstly, it is a performance package, so he gets nothing if he doesn’t perform against the pretty audacious milestones that are part of the performance criteria that’s been outlined by the board in the performance package. So, I think rather than compensation, it’s actually about the performance and the goals that we have for the company as we move forward. And so, for me, it really is about making sure that investors understand that they actually get paid if he hits the milestones before he will…Elon’s been very public, including on last week’s earnings call, about the fact that it’s around the voting influence that he could have in future shareholder meetings as opposed to the economic interests.”

Musk is not an incredibly flashy person. He does not have crazy cars or a massive house to go back to. He spends a lot of his time working and sometimes even sleeps at his office inside the factory.

He recently said he “only has what is needed” because “material possessions were making him weak.”

Material possessions were making me weak, so now I have only what is needed

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2025

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After the assassination of right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk this week, there have been concerns about Musk’s safety, as well as that of other high-profile business leaders and political figures.

Earlier this week, Musk said himself that his security detail would be increased significantly following Kirk’s death, a move that many investors and fans of the company had requested because of political violence.

Elon Musk assures Tesla investors he will enhance his security detail

“Definitely need to enhance security,” Musk said. Tesla spent $3.3 million on Musk’s security in 2024 and January and February 2025. For reference, Meta spent over $27 million on Mark Zuckerberg’s security last year, which is higher than any other tech CEO.

During Denholm’s appearance on Bloomberg TV earlier today, she stated that the company has been focused on Musk’s security detail for “many years,” especially considering he is one of the richest people on Earth and holds an incredible amount of influence.

“It is something that we take very seriously; he takes it very seriously as well. So, again, from a board perspective, it is something we’ve discussed at length,” Denholm said.

Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm on increased security for CEO Elon Musk:

pic.twitter.com/NdbGVS6D4K

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 12, 2025

Denholm added that she believes “there is not anyone in a boardroom that is not touched by what has happened with Charlie Kirk.”

Although Musk’s political involvement has toned down significantly in the past, he still has enemies, especially based on groups that oppose him and the company specifically. Based on this week’s events, it feels that increased security is a necessary expense Tesla must account for.

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Last night, The Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla’s Board of Directors was looking for Musk’s replacement after he had devoted too much time to his role within the government. The publication revised its headline to the report no fewer than five times, initially stating the company was still seeking a replacement.

By the time the headline revisions were complete, it had outlined that Tesla had looked for a replacement a month ago, but had stopped its search following Musk’s commitment to Tesla during the company’s earnings call last month.

Shortly after the report surfaced, Board of Directors chairwoman Robyn Denholm officially issued a statement on behalf of Tesla:

“Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company. This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead.  – Robyn Denholm.”

Tesla Board Chair slams Wall Street Journal over alleged CEO search report

Interestingly, Denholm’s statement indicates it had responded to a request for comment from the Wall Street Journal before the report was published. This is especially interesting because Tesla does not typically respond to media outreach, as it dissolved its media department several years ago.

Tesla typically makes its statements publicly on X.

Musk also responded to the report, indicating that the WSJ had committed an “extremely bad breach of ethics” by publishing a “deliberately false article” that did not include Tesla’s “unequivocal denial beforehand.”

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During her testimony, she said that the goals tied to Elon Musk’s grants were “audacious” and highlighted Tesla’s operational forecasting as ambitious. An example she gave was the Tesla Semi. She pointed out that Telsa could produce 100 of the Tesla Semis this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In October, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and PepsiCo confirmed that Pepsi would begin taking deliveries of its first electric Semis on December 1, 2022.

PepsiCo preordered the Tesla Semi in 2017 after Tesla unveiled the truck and has been expecting delivery for a few years. Although Tesla announced in 2022 that it would delay the release of new products this year, it has been able to solve many of the challenges that have been hard on other companies, such as supply chain shortages.

The Tesla Semi was also given a green light by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which told Teslarati that it assessed the Semi and granted it a Certificate of Conformity to enter the stream of commerce. The EPA granted Tesla the Certificate on September 29, 2022, and is valid until December 31, 2023.

Tesla plans to hold a delivery event for the Tesla Semi and will invite some of its retail shareholders through a random drawing.

“If you want to attend the Semi delivery event as a retail shareholder, please make sure you have a verified shareholder status on our IR website (unverified manual submissions are eligible if the paperwork is correct). We’ll be doing a random draw where 1 share = 1 entry.” Tesla’s head of investor relations, Martin Viecha, tweeted.

Disclosure: Johnna is a $TSLA shareholder and believes in Tesla’s mission.  

Your feedback is welcome. If you have any comments or concerns or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.

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