Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he wants the $1 trillion worth of Tesla shares he would get in his proposed pay package in order to maintain control of the company. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Elon Musk says he needs to build his stake in Tesla so much that he could become the world’s first trillionaire. But this week he said his aim wasn’t to increase his planet-leading wealth. Instead, Musk said the biggest pay package in history was necessary to protect his company.

“It’s not like I’m going to go spend the money,” Musk said on a call with investors Wednesday. “There needs to be enough voting control to give (me) a strong influence – but not so much that I can’t be fired if I go insane.”

Musk said he needs to protect Tesla from two influential (but hardly all-powerful) research firms that ad

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