Norway’s sovereign wealth fund—the planet’s fattest piggy bank—has thrown its considerable weight against ratifying Elon Musk’s eye-popping $1 trillion compensation package at Tesla. As shareholders gear up for a November 6 showdown, the Nordic powerhouse warns that even a visionary like Musk shouldn’t get paid like he’s single-handedly inventing gravity.
The package, a glittering galaxy of stock options unlocked only if Tesla hits stratospheric milestones over a decade, has critics clutching their pearls and calculators. Split into 12 tranches like a cosmic candy bar, each slice demands both market cap moonshots and operational wizardry—zero pay if Musk fumbles, but up to $878 billion net if he nails it, per Reuters’ eagle-eyed math.
Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management, steward of $1.6 trillion in oil-fueled assets, isn’t mincing words on its website. “We tip our Viking helmet to Mr. Musk’s value creation,” they say, “but this award’s size could dilute shares like watered-down fjord water, and it barely hedges against the ‘key person’ roulette if Elon jets off to Mars mid-game.”
Picture Tesla’s board, led by chair Robyn Denholm, in full panic mode last week, whispering warnings that rejecting the deal might send Musk packing to greener pastures—or bluer ones, like his Twitter-turned-X empire. Shareholders, with votes due by November 5, now juggle loyalty to their meme-lord CEO against the cold math of boardroom excess.
While Norway’s no-vote casts a long shadow, the odds tilt wildly toward approval—call it 90% in the bag, say the optimists. Why? Because this pay setup is sneakily shareholder-sweet: Musk earns zilch without delivering Tesla-sized wins, turning his paycheck into a high-stakes bet where everyone’s boat rises if he rows like a demon.
Long-haul Tesla faithful remember Musk as the wizard who conjured the company through the 2008 financial apocalypse, not just surviving but repaying U.S. loans with a bow and a tip. Shares have rocketed 35,000% under his watch—enough to make your grandma’s bingo winnings look like pocket lint—proving he’s the secret sauce no one wants to spill.
Even when Musk moonlights, like during his DOGE detour or X escapades, Tesla’s stock plays the sulky teenager, dipping faster than a poorly timed tweet. Shareholders, many sporting “Elon for Emperor” tattoos under their hoodies, backed his last pay bonanza with 72% gusto, and power players like Cathie Wood are already chanting “aye” from the rooftops.
The board’s full-throated cheerleading adds rocket fuel, with Denholm framing the vote as “keep Elon or kiss innovation goodbye.” It’s a loyalty litmus test: will the rank-and-file rally for their trailblazing tycoon, or let Norway’s prudent pulse check slow the EV express?
As ballots trickle in, tension hums like a Cybertruck on overdrive. Critics decry the dilution risk—new shares flooding the market like confetti at a billionaire’s bash—while fans counter that Musk’s magic is priceless, or at least trillion-dollar priceless.
Norway’s stance, born of meticulous stewardship, spotlights the eternal CEO conundrum: pay peanuts, get monkeys; pay fortunes, risk feeding the elephant in the garage. Yet with Musk’s track record gleaming like a polished Roadster, bet the farm on shareholders shrugging off the Nordic nay and greenlighting the galaxy’s gaudiest gig.
In the end, this vote isn’t just about bucks—it’s a referendum on whether Tesla’s rocket man deserves a reward as boundless as his ambitions. Stay tuned: if approved, Musk might just buy Norway a new fjord. If not? Well, Mars needs a mayor.
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