Elon Reeve Musk, CEO of Tesla, is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire. Tesla announced earlier this month that its shareholders are releasing a pay package – to be received by Musk – that is worth $1 trillion. This would boost his net worth from around $400 billion to the estimated $1 trillion.
As news spread of Musk becoming the first trillionaire, he began to receive backlash from celebrities like Billie Eilish, who criticized his wealth. During a recent award event, Eilish donated the proceeds from her HIT ME HARD AND SOFT tour to various charities, such as the Changemaker Program. She called out billionaires who didn’t donate during her speech: “No hate, but give your money away.” She stated this after receiving the Music innovator of the Year award the evening of Oct. 29, 2025. The award was presented by the Wall Street Journal before she donated almost 1/3rd of her net worth – $11.5 million – and called out Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Musk soon retaliated to a later social media post from the pop star on X.
After Eilish called Musk a “coward”, he responded in a post on Nov. 14, and stated, “She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.” This tweet exploded on X with fans of both sides tearing each other down, although neither party followed up after Musk’s response.
Musk’s pay package was almost a unanimous vote among the shareholders. Nearly 75% of the Tesla company voted that Musk should receive the $1 trillion pay package, not including the 15% of the company he already owns. This means that only around 10% of the company did not vote or didn’t want him to receive the money. The money will be shared to Musk in the form of stock – not a check or cash – and according to Nasdaq, the pay package is on a ten-year time period.
In ten years, the projected stock should reach a worth of around $400 million, which will double Musk’s net worth. It is not guaranteed that he will receive the estimated amount, because the pay package is completely dependent on how well Tesla stock will do in the next 10 yrs. The pay package is meant to keep Musk interested in the Tesla company.
The Tesla company stock is all over the place and wasn’t doing well at the start of the year, but recently, they are seeing a positive increase in their stock. The recent spike is because of Musk’s announcement of AI chips that will be implanted into Tesla vehicles. Due to his promotion of the product, people are beginning to buy in, upping the stocks and increasing Musk’s eventual pay-out.
Because Elon Musk’s pay package is completely dependent on how Tesla stock performs, he needs the stock to do well in order to receive the full bonus. The potential of Musk becoming the first trillionaire is still up in the air, but based on Tesla’s recent stock, it is entirely possible for him to receive the pay package and become the first ever trillionaire.
