Tesla’s Master Plan 4 still lacks details before a vote on Musk’s $1 trillion payout

More than two months ago, Tesla published its fourth “master plan,” a vague publication about how the company wants to spread “sustainable abundance” across its future products. Details remain woefully absent, but that hasn’t stopped Tesla from making it a central plank in its attempt to convince shareholders to hand CEO Elon Musk a $1 trillion compensation package at the company’s annual meeting on Thursday.

If the vote goes through, the world’s richest man will receive the largest pay package in corporate history.

When the “plan” was released, it was so vague that it drew criticism from some of the company’s biggest fans. Even Musk, who said that criticism[f]Air” and claimed that Tesla would “add more details,” and acknowledged the plan’s lack of detail.

The post remains unchanged, although it is the focus of Tesla’s ongoing campaign.

Musk has stressed that he doesn’t care about the money as much as he cares about retaining control of Tesla and the “robot army” he wants to build – and he has threatened to leave if the vote fails.

The Master Plan 4 stands in stark contrast to previous “Master Plans” released by Tesla. All of these goals included tangible goals and concrete ideas, although some were so lofty that Tesla had yet to achieve them. The third master plan, issued in 2023, focused on creating a sustainable energy economy and came in the form of a 41-page white paper.

Tesla and Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Musk announced the Fourth Master Plan in June 2024. “Working on Tesla Master Plan 4,” Musk wrote on X at the time. “It’s going to be epic.”

In August this year, he wrote in another post that “Master Plan 3 was so complex that almost no one could understand it,” and said “Master Plan 4 will be concise.” Tesla published the plan just a few days later.

Although inaccurate, all of the materials Tesla sent to shareholders about the vote tout the fourth major plan as a reason for approving the compensation package. It is highlighted in booklets instructing shareholders on how to vote. I got a shout out in Tesla’s third-quarter shareholder letter. It was mentioned in interviews conducted by Chairman Robin Denholm and design leader Franz von Holzhausen.

“A few days ago, Elon unveiled Tesla’s inspiring next chapter with the Master Plan, Part IV, focused on creating sustainable abundance for all,” Denholm and fellow board member Kathleen Wilson Thompson wrote in a letter to shareholders in September, again without going into further detail. “We are, and always have been, a company that thinks bolder, acts faster and strives for a better future. The Master Plan, Part IV builds on this, by reimagining employment, mobility and energy and bringing AI into the physical world through products and services like FSD, Optimus and Robotaxi.”

Denholm has been waging a media campaign to drum up support for a vote on the trillion-dollar pay package, but has not been asked to lay out a clearer vision for Master Plan 4. Instead, she has remained focused on the milestones Musk needs to achieve to unlock his trillion-dollar pay package — almost all of which are watered-down versions of the outrageous promises he’s made over the years.

Musk himself has not brought up Master Plan 4 on X directly since his September 2 post about adding more details. He spent much of the days leading up to the shareholder vote promoting the compensation package, fearmongering about immigrants, and spreading misinformation about the New York City mayoral election.

Only during an interview von Holzhausen gave to Ride the Lightning in October did someone raise the mystery of the plan.

“[M]The initial reaction to it as a Tesla shareholder, a Tesla owner, a Tesla fan, and I saw a lot of this in the Tesla community, was that it seemed a little lacking in detail compared to the previous major plans, which were very concrete,” said host Ryan McCaffrey, who then quickly focused on a more positive set of questions for the chief designer.

“So, why are you excited about Part 4 of the master plan and how is Tesla going to accomplish this? That’s a big question,” McCaffrey asked.

“We’ll do it the Tesla way, of course,” von Holzhausen replied.