Musk pushes $1T Tesla pay plan to secure control over its AI and robotics future

At the end of Tesla’s Q3 earnings call, Musk urged shareholders to back a new compensation plan that he says would lift his voting power to a level that ensures he can direct the company’s long-term robotics strategy, including the Optimus humanoid project. He framed the package less as a windfall and more as a governance tool: if Tesla builds “an enormous robot army,” he said, he wants to be sure he can’t be easily pushed out later.

Musk argued Tesla is uniquely positioned to commercialize humanoid robots thanks to its manufacturing scale and progress on dexterous manipulation (like robotic hands). His core worry, he said, is being ousted after laying the groundwork for a large robot fleet. He added that while it’s labeled “compensation,” he doesn’t plan to “go spend the money”; the point is securing “strong influence” over how such a fleet is deployed.

Musk currently owns about 13% of Tesla following stock sales in recent years, many tied to his 2022 purchase of Twitter (now X). On the call, he suggested the right level of voting control for him is roughly the “mid-20s” percent—enough influence without making him unfireable “if I go insane,” as he put it.

Musk also blasted leading proxy advisers, ISS and Glass Lewis, which have recommended shareholders vote down the proposal. He said he doesn’t want a scenario where a robot program is built and he’s later removed “because of some asinine recommendations,” leveling particularly sharp criticism at the firms.

Tesla is still dealing with litigation around Musk’s 2018 pay award. A Delaware trial judge ruled shareholders lacked sufficient information when they approved that package, and the state’s Supreme Court is now weighing Tesla’s appeal. Whatever happens there, Wall Street analysts generally expect the new plan—potentially worth up to $1 trillion if ambitious milestones are met—to receive investor approval.

All eyes are on Tesla’s annual general meeting on Nov. 6, when investors will vote on the pay plan. The decision doubles as a referendum on Musk’s central role in Tesla’s AI and robotics roadmap, from robotaxis to Optimus—and on how much influence he should have over any future “robot army.”