Elon Done With Tesla?: Musk Hints at Stepping Down From Company If His $1TRILLION Pay Day Is Rejected
Does Tesla need to start looking for a new leader?
Oct. 20 2025, Published 3:45 p.m. ET
Elon Musk his warning Tesla shareholders to approve his $1trillion payday... or look for a new CEO, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 54-year-old took to X to complain about what his next move would be if the World's Richest Man doesn't become even more rich.
Former Tesla Employee Strikes Back
Tesla may need to find a new CEO if Musk doesn't get his way.
Last month, Tesla board of directors offered to add $1trillion to Musk's pockets; a proposed plan which would be the latest pay package for an executive in history.
In the plan, Musk would get up to 12 percent of Tesla's stock, worth about $1trillion, if the company hits its targets, such as a market capitalization of $8.5trillion as well as other milestones over 10 years.
Tesla's current market value is about $1.1trillion. Musk currently owns about 13 percent of Tesla's outstanding shares.
However, when Romain Hedoui, a former Tesla employee and investor, complained Tesla is paying Musk too much and proposed hiring a different CEO without the absurd amounts of money attached, Musk went off the handle.
Musk wants Tesla investors to approve a $1trillion plan to fill his pockets with more cash.
It kicked off after Hedoui said on X: "If Tesla's market capitalization only reaches $2T within the next 10 years, the proposed pay package would pay the CEO roughly $20,000,000,000 for this 'achievement.' This would be roughly 3.8 percent annual growth from today's share price.
"That would barely beat inflation, and it would underperform the S&P 500 considerably."
He added: "Sorry, Tesla, some of us, and supposedly, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) too, simply don't think that underperforming the S&P 500 this much is worth paying somebody 20billion dollars worth of company value... As a shareholder, I don't want Tesla to over-pay for its CEO."
I strongly believe that the 2025 pay package proposal would over-pay for its CEO, and that other competent CEOs could grow Tesla just as much with way less political drama and cost investors much less that this proposal," Hedoui concluded.
Musk Done As CEO?
Musk is already the World's Richest Man.
Musk clearly took offense to this, as he responded, "Tesla is worth more than all other automotive companies combined. Which of those CEOs would you like to run Tesla?
"It won’t be me."
Critics on the platform were quick to react, as one person raged, "This whole compensation package is absolutely ridiculous," and another added, "This idea that Tesla is doomed without Elon has to stop. It’s insulting to the people that make the company."
A user claimed: "Musk is now actively engaged in blackmail of his shareholders... demanding this pay package or he threatens to leave the company."
Musk's Supporters... and Detractors
'Which of these CEO's would like to run Tesla?' Musk asked on X.
Top proxy advisor ISS is also against Tesla investors voting to fill up Musk's bank account even more, recently stating "there are unmitigated concerns surrounding the special award's magnitude and design."
Proxy adviser Glass Lewis also spoke out against the plan, claiming the compensation may lead to potential share dilution, and also noted parts of the plan "warrant significant concern."
However, Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm feels differently, previously telling investors in a letter: "We believe that Elon's singular vision is vital to navigating this critical inflection point.
"We also recognize the formidable nature of this undertaking and, as a result, the importance of having a leader who is not only willing and capable but eager to meet this challenge."
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Musk shouldn't feel too down on himself, as earlier this month, his bank account crossed the half-trillion mark, putting him about $150billion ahead of the world's second-richest person, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
