Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Tesla Deal: Is He Really Worth It?

Summary

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Earn Your Leisure Podcast

Episode: Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Tesla Deal: Is He Really Worth It?

Hosts: Rashad Bilal & Troy Millings

Date: October 28, 2025

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Overview

In this episode, Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings dissect Elon Musk's unprecedented proposal of a $1 trillion compensation package tied to Tesla’s performance. The conversation explores the feasibility and implications of such a massive payout, Musk’s influence over Tesla’s fortunes, the risks of his potential departure, and compares historical cases of visionary founders. The discussion provides both investor and entrepreneurial perspectives on leadership, value creation, and the unique place Musk holds in modern business.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Context of the $1 Trillion Compensation Plan

• Elon Musk’s Demands:
  • Musk has pushed for a pay package entitling him to $1 trillion if Tesla's market cap hits $8.5 trillion—well above its current ~$1 trillion.
  • Musk implied that failure to approve the deal could lead him to walk away from Tesla.
  • The proposal comes amid recent letters to investors and the Tesla board.
  • This payment is contingent on extremely high benchmarks.
    • “If Tesla’s valuation gets to $8.5 trillion, then his payout, then he’ll earn $1 trillion over the course of that time.” (D, 02:53)
  • The compensation would equate to around 14% of the company’s total value at that point.

2. Investor Perspectives: Is It Worth It?

• Unprecedented Nature of the Deal:
  • Hosts express surprise and question whether any CEO is worth $1 trillion, regardless of company growth.
    • “It’s unprecedented that somebody would ask for a one trillion dollar payment compensation package.” (B, 04:12)
  • Some investors ask: Is the risk of Musk leaving worth insuring for such a sum?
  • For current Tesla shareholders, voting on the deal may be on the table.

3. The Centrality of Musk to Tesla’s Value

• Visionary Leadership:

  • Musk is widely considered a “once in a lifetime talent.”
  • Comparisons are drawn to other corporate legends (Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett) and succession issues.
    • “Without Elon Musk, Tesla essentially has no value. Especially if he takes his talents to focus on Starlink primarily, which is the real gem of a company.” (C, 05:06)
  • With all major Tesla projects and the next 10 years’ roadmaps tied to Musk alone, the company is extremely exposed should he exit.

• Board Dynamics and Threats:

  • Musk also wants 25% voting control to stay fully engaged, essentially making this a take-it-or-leave-it offer.
    • “He wants 25% voting control to stay fully committed. That’s kind of like the threat.” (B, 06:57)

4. Tesla's Valuation: Fundamentals vs. Sentiment

• Stock Performance versus Business Reality:

  • Recent earnings calls have focused less on car sales, more on future robotics and AI.
    • “If you listen to the earnings call that they just had, they talked nothing about cars. No, there wasn’t even a mention of cars…All autonomous, all robotics.” (B, 07:10)
  • Tesla's share price is seen as moving more on Musk’s statements and presence than on sales or fundamentals.
    • “It’s just moving on the sentiment of the CEO. If that CEO removes themselves from that equation, you’re in for a windfall.” (B, 08:20)

• Company Financials:

  • Tesla’s recent annual revenue: $95.62 billion.
  • Margins: 17% gross, 5.57% net—good, but not impervious without visionary leadership.

5. Comparisons to Other Business Icons

• Steve Jobs’ Forced Exit:

  • “We had a once in…another once in a lifetime talent be voted out by his board by the name of Steve Jobs in 1985.” (B, 06:46)
  • Reflected on how losing the founder destabilized Apple, until Jobs’ return.
  • “Didn’t work. This did not work.” (C, 06:53)

• Warren Buffett’s Departure:

  • Berkshire Hathaway’s downgrade mentioned as a cautionary tale for what happens when founder-leaders leave without clear succession.

• Can the Program Survive the Loss of Its Leader?

  • Hosts debate whether companies (Apple, Microsoft) can sustain outsized value after losing legendary founders, and if Tesla fits that mold.
  • “Nobody’s bigger than the program.” (D, 10:04)
  • Argument that Musk is so deeply intertwined with Tesla’s identity, his departure could mean the end of its distinctiveness.

6. Entrepreneurial Insight: Building with Personal Value

• Creating “Founder Value”:
  • “You want to be so valuable that if you do leave…that the value is with you. If you’re building the business.” (C, 12:15)
  • Comparisons to franchise athletes—if the main player leaves, the game changes entirely.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Musk’s Centrality:

  • “Without Elon Musk, Tesla essentially has no value. Especially if he takes his talents to focus on Starlink primarily.” (C, 05:06)
  • “If you listen to the earnings call that they just had, they talked nothing about cars...All autonomous, all robotics.” (B, 07:10)

• On Corporate Governance:

  • “He wants 25% voting control to stay fully committed. That’s kind of like the threat.” (B, 06:57)
  • “If that CEO removes themselves from that equation, you’re in for a windfall.” (B, 08:20)

• On Programs vs. Founders:

  • “Nobody’s bigger than the program but you can’t negotiate with terrorists.” (D, 09:55)
  • “He is the program, though.” (C, 09:59)
  • “If Tesla’s stock is only tied to one person, then it’s not a good company.” (D, 10:10)

• On Apple After Jobs and Other Companies:

  • “Apple…has had an all-time high almost 10 years after Steve Jobs died.” (D, 10:25)
  • “Microsoft in the equation is still running years after Bill Gates.” (D, 10:33)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:00] — Elon Musk’s compensation plan explained; benchmarks and implications for investors.
• [04:36] — Negotiation tactics and Musk’s leverage discussed.
• [06:46] — Historical look at boards ousting visionary founders (Steve Jobs).
• [07:10] — Tesla’s pivot from cars to AI and robotics on earnings calls.
• [08:20] — Host discussion on how Tesla’s valuation is sentiment-driven.
• [09:55] — ‘Nobody’s bigger than the program’ debate.
• [10:53] — What does Tesla represent: product value vs. leader-driven hype?
• [12:15] — Entrepreneurial take on building “founder value” into a business.

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Conclusion

This episode explores the massive stakes behind Elon Musk’s demand for a $1 trillion payout, and what his ongoing involvement—or departure—means for Tesla. Rashad, Troy, and their guest challenge listeners to consider how much a singular visionary contributes to a company’s real value and whether boards or investors should risk everything on one man. Throughout, candid talk and memorable moments illuminate the intersection of business power moves, legacy, and the high-wire act of corporate leadership in the age of icons.

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Transcript

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[D]

Elon Musk is the richest person in the world currently. What, publicly? No publicly, but he, he, he wants to approve, he wants to have a one trillion dollar compensation plan approved. In a letter to investors and Tesla's broad board, he shared why he thought that this would be appropriate and pretty much said like, you know, if he doesn't get what he wants, then he's going to walk away from the company that he's, you know, made obviously famous and one of the most valuable companies in world history. Now it's important to keep in mind here this payout package actually comes with benchmarks that have to be met. Yeah. So the 1 trillion is the last.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

If it, if it gets to, if Tesla's valuation gets to $8.5 trillion, then his payout, then he'll, he'll, he'll earn $1 trillion over the course of that time. So the 8.5 is a lot from where it is now. I think it's at 1, a little bit more than 1 trillion right now.

[B]

So I can tell you right now.

[D]

That would be, you know, 1.4. Yeah, a tremendous gain from where it currently is. But it gives him an incentive. Now some people will say, okay, well he already has a lot of Tesla stock, so even if it like he's gonna make hundreds of billions of dollars just from a Tesla stock and then from the conversation package, so why does he need an additional, you know, and then, you know, okay, it gets to 8 trillion, he gets 1 trillion, that's 14 of the company's valuation. That's kind of a lot just from a payment standpoint. But then they're like, okay, well if it gets to $8 trillion, the investors, I mean that's a good thing for investors, right? That means that you've made 600 on your money and nobody's gonna be mad at that. So. But yeah, I mean it's, it's unprecedented that somebody would ask for a one trillion dollar payment compensation package. So is that something that's reasonable as an investor? If anybody, because I'm sure there's a lot of people that's watching Market Mondays that might be invested in Tesla and you should probably check wherever you're invested. You could, you could, you probably got a vote on, on this situation. Yeah, if, if you're invested in Tesla, is this something that you think you want to go through with or do you feel comfortable risking Elon Musk walking away?

[C]

A, from a negotiation standpoint, I think he's done a fantastic job. To be very clear, they have some very tough benchmarks in him to hit before he even gets to the eight and a half trillion dollar value to then get one trillion. But if we're going to be very honest, Elon's a once in a lifetime talent. And too often boards that are not once in a lifetime talent wants to tell the once in a lifetime talent how they should operate. And given the business climate that we're in, even though this is probably the greatest era in my lifetime, we were talking about this yesterday, Troy. In terms of investing, this is probably the weakest class of non exceptional companies that I ever seen that's publicly traded. So if he's seeing the gap, because let's be very clear, without Elon Musk, Tesla essentially has no value. Especially if he takes his talents to focus on Starlink primarily, which is the real gem of a company. I know it sounds like a lot, it is a lot of money, but if we're talking about driver of revenue, driver of ecosystem, driver of band, and I said this two and a half, three years ago, eventually he's going to go to chairman because Tesla's not the thing he wants to focus on. And now he's going to force his way to get a trillion or force a way out in terms of exit. And if you don't think this is having a significant impact, another once in a lifetime talent, Warren Buffett. For the first time, Berkshire got downgraded because the once in a lifetime talent is not in that seat. And because you have no great succession plan, no great product roadmap. Without him, he has an elevated corporate executives in the public so that the retail investor knows what will come next. He's in prime position to get this package. So without him, there is no company. In 2010, the stock was at a dollar and 15 cent. There's no value without him. If we're gonna be very honest.

[B]

Yeah, we had a once in, well, another once in a lifetime talent be voted out by his board by the name of Steve Jobs in 1985.

[C]

Didn't work. This did not work.

[B]

This, this will not work either. I think Elon has said that he wants the 25, so that, that's part of it. That makes it a little bit tricky. He wants a 25 voting control to stay fully committed. That's kind of like the threat.

[C]

Right?

[B]

Like if I don't get a 25, I'm gonna take my focuses elsewhere. The problem is if he takes his focus elsewhere, what is Tesla? Because if you listen to the earnings call that they just had, they talked nothing about cars. No, there wasn't even a mention of cars. He did not mention anything about autonomous. Yep, all autonomous, all robotics. I think he actually talked about like a doctor, a robot doctor on the call, like preempted. It didn't even get asked about it, but just decided that I'm just going to forward this information over. And so it goes back to the. How are they being valued?

[C]

Right.

[B]

Is it just sediment we talked about again? We talked about this yesterday.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Some companies are just moving on. It's not fundamentals at this point. Right. Because Tesla, the automotive vehicle, when we looked at sales, I know sales were a little bit better this quarter, but for the past two years they haven't been great. And we've watched the stock climb and climb and then it Pulls back on weak earnings and then the next day it's up $30 and then last year it dropped. And then people said, you know, he's too focused on his government position. Then he decides I'm gonna pull back from the government. And always back focused.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

So it's just moving on the sentiment of, of the CEO. If that CEO removes themselves from that equation, you're in for a windfall.

[C]

$95.62 billion in revenue. Keynote though. Gross margin 17 net margin 5.57%. They can't afford to lose a generational talent. So it's a couple of ways to ruin a company. If you're an executive and you know that you're a once in a lifetime talent and once again has not raised the profile of executive management. And all of the product roadmaps for the next 10 years is tied to you. They're between the rock and a hard place. Unless they have an executive who is an incredible visionary. But all the incredible visionaries are tied to other companies. And also keep in the back of your mind open. AI was stolen from him.

[B]

He's credited as a co founder for that. But it goes into the. That mind, that, that visionary mind. He is the visionary mind.

[C]

Right. Like co founder credit with no equity is no equity.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. Nobody, nobody's bigger than the program.

[B]

Well no, I just want to say this before you go into something else because when you think about maybe a year ago we were talking about keeping the main thing the main thing right. And Tesla was the main thing.

[C]

I told you he was never going to stay there though it's generated enough.

[B]

Revenue revenue for him to now say hey, I can take my talents elsewhere. I have Starlink, I have NeuroLink, I have SpaceX, I have X AI.

[C]

This is one of my favorite segments with Rashad though the program.

[D]

Come on, you know, nobody's bigger in the program but you can't negotiate with terrorists.

[C]

And yeah, he is the program though.

[D]

Nobody's bigger than the program. Yeah, there's the program and it's not. Then it's not a valuable company. Then if, if the company's stock is only tied to one person. Tied to one person then it's not a good company Apple because say what you want about Apple is had an all time high almost 10 years after Ste. After Steve Jobs died. Yeah.

[B]

That his highest valuation I hit 4 trillion today.

[D]

But I'm saying micro Microsoft in the equation is still running years after Bill Gates years after Bomber is still running.

[B]

And the equation of nobody's building the Program. Who was Elon in that equation? Is he the program?

[C]

He's the program.

[B]

I know that I'm saying. Is that what you're saying?

[D]

No, if Tesla. What I'm saying is this.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

There's two ways to look at Tesla as a, As a company that actually has real value and provides something that the world needs as far as, you know, cars and then potentially robots and then autonomous driving. And in the next 50 years is going to be one of the most valuable companies in the world because of what they're providing, the services that they're providing.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Or it's a way to look at it as. It's a company that's a decent company that provides decent products and has a rock star CEO.

[C]

And it's a lot of that. And if we're going to be very clear, Tesla has always been that Tesla is not an except like exceptional innovation. Yes. Has it been a Microsoft Nvidia, Apple? No. He was the driving force behind it. Is there other executive talent there that could take the realm? Yes. Will it have the Blockbuster Rising's performance?

[B]

No. Yeah.

[C]

And as an entrepreneur though, Rashad, because I agree with your point about the program. The other part of the game is to be so exceptional to the company that you write. The program I just left from watching Tron out today, who makes the program is very important. Yes, I agree to the Steve Jobs point. But. But Tim Cook also, I'm not gonna say he got lucky, but there's a way he created the value there in terms of being an operator and then getting in bed with certain people in hedge funds to make that a valuable company. You can also say that that change the structure of Apple, but you want to be so valuable that if you do leave same way with Jordan the Bulls as an entrepreneur, that the value is with you. If you're building the business.

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