The world’s richest man emerged triumphant from a gathering of the faithful on Friday with a new goal — to out-earn everyone else on the planet over the course of the next decade.
His believers, some of whom were calling for his overthrow just months ago, once again have agreed to enrich the Tesla boss to levels far beyond the realm of ordinary billionaires.
If he can pull it off, Musk may become the world’s first trillionaire. To get there, he must deliver on an arduous 12-point plan that will put Tesla, and hence Musk, into a position of global domination.
It’s a position that will only partly be determined by his fabulous wealth.
“What we’re about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book,” he told the congregation.
The storyline for Musk’s new narrative is more science fiction than corporate mission statement and it was on full display at Friday’s meeting in Austin, Texas.
Sure, there’s cars, electric ones and self-driving at that. But it was the humanoid robots attending the meeting that hinted of a bold new world.
Known as Optimus, they bore a striking similarity to Musk’s demeanour.
Elon Musk unveils humanoid robot
There’s the thousand-yard stare, not to mention the lack of emotion and the jerky head rolls — characteristics the Tesla founder used to full effect during his brief time as Donald Trump’s slash-and-burn man.
His brief tenure in the White House as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency and the near-devastating impact it had on the company was just a receding memory on Friday, soon to be consigned to the vaults.
This was no time to be discussing the alienation of Tesla’s natural target market – relabelled as “woke” – and the accompanying alarming drop in Tesla sales for most of the past year, nor the impact of US tariffs and stiff global competition from Chinese and European competitors.
Instead, the faithful lapped up the vision and the promise of fabulous riches, of which they were only too eager to sling a greater share to their leader.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s partnership created a lot of controversy. (Reuters: Brandon Bell/pool)
Friends and enemies
What do you do when you’re publicly ostracised for being too greedy?
If your name is Elon Musk, you don’t just double down; you employ the 10X Rule.
In 2018, Tesla shareholders voted to deliver their leader a $US50 billion ($77 billion) pay cheque (now valued at $US125 billion – $192 billion – at today’s share prices), an agreement that ultimately was struck down by the courts.
Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Court of Chancery in Delaware declared that negotiations over the package had been inappropriate, highlighting a lack of independence from board members and undue influence by Musk.
There’s an old saying that “Delaware is to corporations as Liberia is to ships”, particularly when it comes to taxation and entrenching the power of incumbents.
Texas, however, is more lax when it comes to shareholder votes and Tesla since has moved its registered address to the Lone Star State.
Robyn Denholm has continued to back Elon Musk. (Reuters: Christine Chen)
Musk, despite being the biggest shareholder with 15 per cent and being the beneficiary of the package, was allowed to vote on the motion.
Once again, Tesla chairwoman Robyn Denholm went into bat for Musk, publicly advocating a yes vote.
An Australian and a former senior executive at Telstra, her net worth in recent years has ballooned to just shy of a billion dollars, courtesy of her shares in the electric vehicle manufacturer.
Elon Musk’s DOGE agency explained
While small shareholders and a good many institutions overlooked Musk’s recent transgressions, there were some notable opponents.
It’s not often the pope weighs into boardroom tussles, especially annual meeting resolutions.
“Yesterday, the news [said] that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world,” Pope Leo XIV noted in his first interview after his ascendance to the pinnacle of the Catholic Church.
“What does that mean, and what’s that about?
“If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble.”
He was in good company. Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services urged shareholders to vote against the package, while the world’s biggest national wealth fund, Norges Bank, announced it would vote against the deal.
“We are concerned about the total size of the award, dilution and lack of mitigation of key person risk — consistent with our views on executive compensation,” it said. “We will continue to seek constructive dialogue with Tesla on this and other topics.”
But to no avail.
Striking a blow for humanityLoading
When it comes to the papacy, Musk has a closer relationship than most.
He had a private audience with Pope Francis in May, shortly before his death, and was quick to fire back a retort to Pope Leo on his X account, with a scripture quote that alluded to hypocrisy, given the incredible wealth accumulated by the Church.
Elon Musk became CEO of the electric car company in October 2008. (ABC News: Daniel Mercer)
At Friday’s shareholder meeting, however, Musk attempted to soothe the new pontiffs concern with his vision for the future of humanity.
“People often talk about eliminating poverty, giving everyone amazing medical care,” he told the gathering.
“Well, there’s actually only one way to do that, and that’s with the Optimus robot.
“You start getting into, like, some pretty wild sci-fi sort of scenarios.”
The message echoed his previous claims to altruism as his primary motivation.
Shortly after he snapped up Twitter (then to become X), he claimed he made the move “to help humanity” and improve free speech.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” he said.
While most attention to Friday’s events focused upon Musk’s potential trillion-dollar pay packet and the hurdles to achieve that, a more troubling picture of the man may be emerging.
X, DOGE and his obsession with humanoids speak volumes about Musk’s view of the world and his vision of where he should sit.
The money is merely a means to an end.