Tesla Proposes a Trillion-Dollar Bet That It's More Than Just Cars

Tesla launched a constricted robotaxi service successful Austin, Texas, earlier this summer, but it's unclear whether nan vehicles driving astir nan metropolis are technologically precocious capable to count toward that 1 cardinal robotaxi goal. (The connection specifies that nan robotaxis must not person a “human driver,” and nan vehicles successful Texas person safety monitors sitting successful their beforehand rider seats for metropolis rides and successful nan driver’s seats for road trips.)

Meanwhile, nan institution is reportedly falling good short of its extremity to nutrient 5,000 units of Optimus, its humanoid robot, by nan extremity of this year, having produced only a fewer hundred. Musk has said that Optimus could 1 time revolutionize nan world system by replacing nan mostly of quality labor, but The Information reported successful July that nan Optimus squad was having peculiar problem pinch nan robot’s hands. The company’s vice president of Optimus robotics, a nine-year Tesla veteran, near successful June.

“For Musk to person nan afloat salary package, Tesla will request to beryllium nan leader of autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots successful a number of countries,” says Seth Goldstein, a elder equity expert astatine Morningstar, a financial services firm.

Musk’s past salary packages person been unconventional and controversial. Unlike different CEOs, Musk does not person yearly compensation aliases incentives but is alternatively paid according to Tesla’s semipermanent performance. His 2018 salary package, worthy much than $50 billion, is still successful ineligible limbo aft a shareholder suit accusing nan Tesla committee of insufficient transparency and independency led to a Delaware judge striking it down past year. (Tesla responded by reincorporating successful Texas.) The committee granted Musk an interim $29 cardinal banal grant past month.

The connection demonstrates that, contempt Musk’s arguable moves, Tesla’s committee sees him arsenic a important portion of nan automaker’s occurrence and that nan Musk era is acold from over. “This caller salary package should support Elon Musk astatine Tesla for astatine slightest nan adjacent decade,” says Goldstein.

The package’s goals double down connected nan messages of Tesla’s “Master Plan Part IV,” a lofty ngo connection posted this week exclusively connected X, Musk’s societal platform. Tesla’s Master Plans were once cheeky blogs posted straight by Musk onto Tesla’s website, complete pinch back-of-the-envelope power costs calculations. The caller scheme points to Tesla’s much civilizational ambitions. “Autonomy must use each of humanity,” 1 conception reads; “Greater entree drives greater growth,” sounds another, complete pinch renderings of Optimus robots serving cocktails and watering plants.

But if Musk wants to alteration nan world and make his trillion, he’ll person to enactment successful his lane—and retired of President Donald Trump’s, for whom he once served arsenic “First Buddy”. The board-run committee that put together nan salary connection has met pinch Musk 10 times since February, nan Tesla committee wrote successful its filing. Among different things, nan filing reads, nan committee received “assurances that Musk’s engagement pinch nan governmental sphere would upwind down successful a timely manner.”