Elon Musk said he needs $1 trillion to stop ‘corporate terrorists’ from wresting control of Tesla

By CNN Newsource

Published October 23, 2025 9:14 AM

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — 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 advise shareholders how to vote – ISS and Glass Lewis, which he described as “corporate terrorists.”

“I just don’t feel comfortable building a robot army here and …then being ousted because of some asinine recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis, who have no freaking clue,” he said. “They have made many terrible recommendations in the past that if those recommendations had been followed, it would have been extremely destructive to the future of the company.”

Musk claimed that passive index funds that control much of Tesla’s shares blindly follow the recommendations of ISS and Glass Lewis. But shareholder votes have always followed Tesla’s board recommendations. Although shareholders have voted against other companies’ board recommendations, they’re quite rare.

For example, Glass Lewis and ISS recommended votes against a previous massive pay package for Musk. But shareholders approved that package in 2018 with 73% of shares held by investors other than Musk and his brother. After a Delaware judge threw out that pay package ruling it wasn’t in the interest of shareholders, Tesla held another vote and that time it was approved by holders of 84% of the shares.

The two firms have reportedly recommended a vote against Musk’s newest pay package as well. Neither firm responded to a request for comment early Thursday about Musk referring them as terrorists.

Musk now owns 413 million shares of Tesla outright and had options to buy 304 million additional shares at a small fraction of current prices, but those options have been struck down twice by the Delaware judge. The Delaware Supreme Court heard arguments in that case earlier this month.

The 413 million shares he owns and 96 million conditional additional shares that Tesla has agreed to give him in case the Delaware court decision is upheld would give him about 16% of the company’s outstanding shares. Musk has repeatedly said he wants roughly 10% more of the company.

The pay package now up for a vote could give him options to buy 423.7 million additional shares of Tesla stock.

But Musk would get those shares only if the value of Tesla stock increases significantly in coming years. The options would be worth close to $1 trillion should the company hit the increased valuation targets laid out in the package.

Tesla’s board said the package is needed keep him focused on Tesla given all his other holdings and interests. He is also CEO of SpaceX and the primary owner of AI company, xAI, which owns social media platform X that he bought when it was Twitter, and several other companies.

“Musk also raised the possibility that he may pursue other interests that may afford him greater influence,” said the company’s proxy proposing the package. “Simply put, retaining and incentivizing Elon is fundamental to Tesla achieving these goals and becoming the most valuable company in history.”