Tesla voters backed Elon Musk’s big new pay package today

Tesla’s fate – or at least the answer to the question of whether its boss Elon Musk will stay or go – may have been settled in a shareholder vote today.

A preliminary tally of this year’s 14 proposals, which include giving Musk greater control over Tesla ( TSLA ) as well as a $1 trillion pay package, was released late Thursday at a shareholder meeting that began after the close of trading. In this vote, more than 75% of voters approved the proposal, the company said.

The crowd gathered at the meeting cheered when the result was announced. The final tally will likely come within a few days and will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Although shareholders voted with Tesla to approve Musk’s previous compensation deal on more than one occasion, the days leading up to today’s shareholder vote were filled with tension. The electric car company with ambitions in robotics and artificial intelligence has made clear its position that it will be lost without Musk at the helm and that the incentives it recommends are necessary to retain him.

“We believe Elon’s singular vision is essential to getting through this critical turning point,” Robin Denholm and Caithlin Wilson Thompson, members of the Tesla Board of Directors Special Committee, wrote in a letter to shareholders.

Counterpoint Global, an investment team within Morgan Stanley Investment Management, as well as the Florida board and Schwab Asset Management, said they intend to cast votes in favor of Musk’s compensation package.

On the other hand, major proxy consulting firms Glass Lewis and ISS advised shareholders to vote against the compensation package, citing dilution and lack of risk mitigation for key people. Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund revealed earlier this week that it voted against the wage package for these and other reasons. The New York State Common Retirement Fund said earlier this month that it planned to vote against it, and urged others to do the same.

The trillion-dollar vote attracted bettors across prediction markets Polymarket, Kalshi, and Robinhood — all of which overwhelmingly indicated a prediction — at 90% or higher — that Musk’s pay deal would pass.

Tesla shares fell about 3.5% on Thursday, closing at about $446 to leave them up about 10% for the year.

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect the stock price movement and the voting announcement.