Former X CEO defends Elon Musk $1tr Tesla payday ahead of crucial vote

The co-founder and former Twitter (now X) CEO, Jack Dorsey, has publicly thrown his support behind Elon Musk’s controversial $1 trillion Tesla compensation package, just hours before shareholders gather for the company’s high-stakes annual meeting on November 6.

Responding to Tesla’s post about reaching a “critical inflection point,” Dorsey wrote on X: “This is not about compensation. It’s about ensuring a principled (and exciting!) engineering approach to the company’s future.”

Musk acknowledged Dorsey’s endorsement with a heart emoji.

Notably, the package, one of the largest proposed pay plans in corporate history, has already been rejected by several major investors, including CalPERS and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, who argue it concentrates too much power in Musk’s hands.

If the package is approved, Musk could eventually become the world’s first trillionaire, but to earn the payout, he has to achieve several milestones, including driving Tesla’s valuation to $8.5 trillion by 2035, delivering 12 million cars per year, and producing one million robotaxis and one million AI-powered Tesla Bots.

It is worth noting that Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and has since reshaped the platform, cementing a public alliance with Dorsey.