According to TechCrunch, Tesla is pushing shareholders to approve a $1 trillion compensation package for CEO Elon Musk at Thursday’s annual meeting using Master Plan 4 as the central justification, despite the plan remaining “gauzy” and lacking specifics more than two months after its August 2024 release. Musk himself acknowledged the criticism was “fair” and promised to “add more specifics” in a September 2 post, but the plan remains unchanged. The package would make Musk, already the world’s richest man, the recipient of the biggest corporate pay package in history. Board chair Robyn Denholm and design chief Franz von Holzhausen have repeatedly promoted the vague plan in shareholder letters and interviews. Musk has threatened to leave Tesla if the vote fails, saying he cares more about controlling his “robot army” than the money.
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The Emperor’s New Master Plan
Here’s the thing about Master Plan 4 – it’s basically a ghost. When Musk teased it back in June, he promised it would be “epic.” Then in August, he claimed Master Plan 3 was “too complex for almost anyone to understand” and said Part 4 would be “concise.” He wasn’t kidding about concise – it’s so light on details that even Tesla superfans called it out. And yet this is what they’re hanging a trillion-dollar pay package on?
Compare this to Master Plan 3 from 2023 – that was a 41-page white paper with actual, you know, plans. Sure, some were wildly ambitious and remain unfulfilled, but at least they tried to explain what they were doing. Now we get buzzwords like “sustainable abundance” and promises to “reimagine labor, mobility and energy.” It’s corporate speak salad, and shareholders are supposed to swallow it with a trillion-dollar price tag.
The Real Game Here
Let’s be real – this isn’t about the money for Musk. He’s already the richest person on Earth. This is about control. He wants that “robot army” he keeps talking about, and he wants absolute authority over Tesla to build it. The board’s been running around like crazy trying to sell this package, with Denholm on a media blitz talking about watered-down milestones from Musk’s previous outrageous promises.
Meanwhile, where’s Musk been during this crucial vote period? Not explaining his visionary Master Plan 4, that’s for sure. According to reporting, he’s been fear-mongering about immigrants and spreading misinformation about New York City’s election. Priorities, right?
What’s a Shareholder to Do?
The board’s argument essentially boils down to: trust us, this guy is a genius, just give him whatever he wants. They’re using Master Plan 4 as this magical talisman – it’s featured in all the voting materials, shareholder letters, everything. But when someone actually asked von Holzhausen how Tesla would accomplish this vague vision, his response was basically “we’ll do it in Tesla fashion.” What does that even mean?
Look, Tesla shareholders have a tough decision here. Reject the package and Musk might actually follow through on his threat to leave, potentially cratering the stock. Approve it and you’re rewarding vague promises with the largest corporate pay package ever. The SEC filings show just how massive this package is, and the board’s own communications reveal how thin the justification has become.
At the end of the day, Tesla is asking investors to buy a trillion-dollar vision that’s literally too vague to criticize. That should make everyone nervous.
