Tesla disclosed in 2025 regulatory filings that it had valued Elon Musk's compensation package at $158 billion (£117 billion) but that he will not receive any of that sum after performance milestones went unmet. The figure reflected the company's estimate of what Musk would earn if he met the terms of a pay deal approved by Tesla shareholders in November.

According to the regulatory filings, none of the milestones set out in the $1 trillion pay deal approved by shareholders last year were achieved in 2025. The compensation only becomes payable if Musk hits a series of targets, including raising Tesla's overall market value to $8.5 trillion, at which point he could be awarded shares worth up to $1 trillion.

Meeting the goals would grant Musk more than 400 million additional Tesla shares. Those shares would be worth around $1 trillion if Tesla's market value is raised high enough.

The performance conditions require Musk to lift Tesla's delivery levels to 20 million vehicles and to raise the company's production of robots to one million. He must also secure 10 million subscriptions to Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature and bring one million self-driving Robotaxi vehicles into commercial operation. The pay deal further requires Musk to earn up to $400 billion in core profit and to eventually lift Tesla's overall market value to $8.5 trillion to qualify for the full payout.

Musk does not receive a salary for his work at Tesla. He is currently the world's richest person, with his net worth estimated at $651 billion by Bloomberg and $788 billion by Forbes. Those estimates place his wealth far beyond that of Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.