On Thursday afternoon, Tesla shareholders will vote on a proposed pay package of extraordinary proportions for Elon Musk.

That package is conditional: Musk would earn no salary, but would unlock Tesla stock worth about a trillion dollars if the company meets certain criteria within the next decade.

Among other targets, he would have to raise the company's market capitalization, the value of all its stock put together, from about $1.5 trillion today to above $8.5 trillion.

For comparison, the most valuable company in the world, Nvidia — the chipmaker boosted by the AI boom — is worth $4.83 trillion. (Its CEO, who is seen as pivotal to the company's success, is paid $50 million per year and owns 3.5% of the company.)

Musk is already unfathomably wealthy, worth some $460 billion, accordi

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