If the $1 billion payment proposal is turned down, Musk might quit Tesla

In a Monday letter to shareholders, Chairwoman Robyn Denholm warned that if Elon Musk‘s $1 trillion compensation proposal was not approved, he might resign as CEO of Tesla.

The plea is made in advance of the annual meeting on November 6, when the board of Tesla has been repeatedly criticized for not acting in the best interests of shareholders. Additionally, advocacy groups and governance experts have questioned the board’s independence and monitoring of Musk’s influence.

In the letter, Denholm stated that the goal of the suggested performance-based strategy was to keep Musk on board and inspire him to continue running Tesla for at least another seven and a half years.

He claimed that Musk’s leadership was «critical» to Tesla’s success and cautioned that the business would fail to adequately reward him, wasting his «time, talent, and vision.» According to him, Musk’s contribution was essential as Tesla aims to lead the world in autonomous and artificial intelligence technologies.

Musk would receive 12 tranches of stock options under the proposed deal, each of which would be linked to lofty objectives like reaching milestones in robotic and autonomous driving and having a market valuation of $8.5 trillion.