Tesla shareholders have approved a record-breaking pay package for boss Elon Musk that could be worth nearly $1 trillion (£760 billion).
The unprecedented deal was approved by 75% of Tesla shareholders who cast votes at the firm's annual general meeting on Thursday.
The deal requires Musk, who is already the world's richest man, to drastically raise the electric car firm's market value over a period of years. If he meets various targets, he will be rewarded with hundreds of millions of new shares.
The scale of the deal is controversial, but the Tesla board argued that Musk might leave the company if it was not approved - and that it could not afford to lose him.
The announcement drew loud applause from the audience at the meeting in Austin, Texas. Musk took to the stage and danced to chants of his name.
What we're about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book, he said.
Musk emphasized the shift in focus at Tesla, suggesting that other shareholder meetings are 'snoozefests,' but his are energetic gatherings. Musk’s deal to inflate Tesla's market value to $8.5 trillion from its current $1.4 trillion is among his ambitious targets.
Moreover, he is expected to operationalize a million self-driving Robotaxi vehicles. However, his focus on the Optimus robot has raised concerns among analysts who hope for more emphasis on improving Tesla's electric vehicle operations.
Gene Munster, from Deepwater Asset Management, highlighted Musk's perspective, noting no immediate mention of the current core business of cars in his vision of the 'new book.'
During his speech, Musk briefly touched on Tesla's full-self-driving (FSD) capacity, stating they are nearly ready to allow drivers to engage in more distracting activities, while likening regulatory challenges to a Kafkaesque experience.
US regulators are intensifying their scrutiny of Tesla's self-driving features in light of several concerning incidents involving the technology, some resulting in accidents with injuries.
