Tesla shareholders will soon decide on a proposed compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk, spanning 10 years and valued at $1 trillion, which would mark the largest executive pay deal ever. Board chair Robyn Denholm recently defended the plan in an interview with The New York Times.
Denholm, who participated in the committee responsible for designing the compensation package, stated that Musk should face extraordinary goals paired with equally extraordinary rewards. She also indicated that Musk appears more interested in the increased voting rights that come with the shares than in the wealth itself.
"I find it somewhat odd to focus so much on the monetary figure, when the real issue is the influence tied to voting," Denholm commented, with The Times noting she seemed at times uncomfortable during the discussion.
Offering such a substantial compensation package could appear illogical given Tesla’s declining profits and vehicle deliveries, but Denholm emphasized that the plan is designed to drive “future results.”
"This isn’t about what’s been done before," she explained. "He earns nothing unless he meets the targets that have been set."
As previously reported by TechCrunch, the targets Musk must hit are less ambitious than some of his earlier public pledges for Tesla’s future.
