San Francisco
Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm issued a stark warning to shareholders in a letter Monday: Elon Musk could depart as CEO if his proposed $1 trillion performance-based pay package is not approved at next week’s annual meeting. Denholm emphasized Musk’s ‘critical’ leadership for Tesla’s push into AI, autonomous driving, and robotics, stating rejection could cost the company his ‘time, talent, and vision,’ eroding significant value. The plan features 12 tranches of stock options linked to milestones like an $8.5 trillion market cap and 1 million Optimus robot deliveries. This follows a Delaware court’s earlier voiding of Musk’s 2018 deal over board independence issues.