Most mornings, I simply want an excellent cup of espresso to really feel motivated to work. However I’m not the CEO of firms that revolutionized electrical automobiles and made rockets reusable. Apparently, these guys want a bit extra incentive to remain motivated to do their job.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s pay package deal is again within the headlines. The automaker revealed in submitting that it desires at hand Musk—already the world’s richest man and price over $400 billion—one other trillion {dollars} if he hits particular efficiency targets. Sure, a trillion. That’s about the whole GDP of the Netherlands, all going to at least one man.
Welcome to the Friday version of Vital Supplies, your day by day roundup of reports and occasions shaping the world of electrical automobiles and tech. Additionally on deck as we speak: Rivian is reducing lots of of jobs forward of its R2 launch, and ICE brokers simply raided Hyundai’s EV plant in Georgia alleging illegal employment.
30%: Elon Musk Might Grow to be The World’s First Trillionaire
Picture by: Tesla
Final yr, Musk pushed for a $100-plus billion pay package deal to proceed being the CEO of Tesla. With out it, he warned, he’d take his AI and robotics ambitions elsewhere. However a Delaware choose tossed that deal out, ruling that Musk wasn’t entitled to that quantity due to flawed negotiations and weak oversight. Tesla’s board, the choose stated, was “beholden” to its CEO.
Even so, Tesla didn’t depart Musk empty-handed. The corporate awarded him “96 million restricted shares of the inventory” valued at $29 billion. That payout was solely the “first step,” Tesla stated in a letter posted on X. A type of small Christmas bonus and a “good religion” fee to maintain Musk within the driver’s seat whereas the corporate labored on an excellent greater test.
Now that test is so massive that it is greater than the GDP of the overwhelming majority of nations on Earth.
Bloomberg reported on Friday that Tesla provided Musk a brand new compensation package deal that will push his stake in Tesla to at the very least 25%, in keeping with a proxy submitting from the corporate. The pay package deal within the submitting is about $87.8 billion, however that will attain the stratosphere if Musk hits the efficiency targets Tesla listed.
Right here’s extra from Bloomberg:
Below the brand new plan, Musk should stay at Tesla as both CEO or govt officer answerable for product or operations in an effort to obtain the shares, that are divided into 12 tranches.
To obtain them, Musk has to hit 12 market capitalization milestones matched with 12 operational milestones, similar to supply of 1 million Optimus robots and 20 million Tesla automobiles, having 1 million robotaxis in industrial operation, and rising adjusted Ebitda to $400 billion.
The corporate would wish to succeed in a market cap of $8.5 trillion as per the report, greater than eight occasions its present $1 trillion valuation, which some analysts consider is already a bloated determine that’s extremely depending on Tesla’s success with robotaxis, AI and humanoid robots.
Musk himself has stated prior to now that the corporate’s valuation could possibly be price trillions if it succeeds with these issues, or it could possibly be price “principally zero.”
We’re an EV publication, so I can’t communicate a lot to the corporate’s humanoid robots, however the Mannequin Y taxis in Austin now have human drivers within the driver’s seat after Texas tightened the leash on autonomous automobiles.
So, the robotaxis at the moment are principally working as EVs with a Degree 2 superior driver help system (ADAS). Plus, AI scientists and robotics specialists are skeptical of Tesla’s camera-only method to autonomy, which they stated isn’t as succesful as a extra complete sensor suite together with lidar and radar.
Tesla has proved skeptics mistaken earlier than with its EV success, however the world of AI and robotaxis is totally different. One damage or a deadly mishap might grind its operations to a halt. It will be a monumental problem to get one million robotaxis safely deployed. However with a trillion {dollars} on the road, I am positive Musk is loads motivated.
60%: Rivian Layoffs
Picture by: Rivian
It’s a turbulent Labor Day week for a number of the nation’s workforce.
Rivian is shedding “lower than 1.5%” of its employees to chop prices and enhance effectivity amid what’s been a troublesome yr for the start-up, with the Trump administration’s tariffs and the tip of the $7,500 federal tax credit score.
“We now have made some current modifications to the industrial staff as a part of an ongoing effort to enhance operational effectivity for R2,” a Rivian spokesperson informed The Wall Road Journal. The laid-off employees can apply for various positions throughout the firm.
Rivian is just not worthwhile but. Regardless of shedding over a billion {dollars} within the second quarter, the corporate is shifting ahead with the R2 launch, which the start-up has pitched as a Tesla Mannequin Y rival.
In a current InsideEVs Plugged-In Podcast episode, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe informed us that the R2 launch “should go effectively,” signaling that it was a make-or-break second for the corporate.
90%: ICE Apprehends Tons of Of Staff At Hyundai EV Manufacturing facility
Picture by: Hyundai
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers raided Hyundai’s EV plant in Georgia on Thursday, the Related Press first reported.
Governor Brian Kemp and different officers have stated that the corporate’s $7.6 billion Metaplant Georgia is the biggest financial improvement within the state’s historical past. It’s the place the 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 are manufactured, using some 1,200 employees.
The raids occurred on the close by battery plant, which Hyundai is setting up in partnership with LG Power Answer. CNN reported that some employees had been undocumented, whereas ICE is alleging “illegal employment practices and different severe federal crimes.”
“We’re conscious of the current incident on the HL-GA Battery Firm development web site in Bryan County, Georgia,” Hyundai stated in an emailed assertion to InsideEVs. “We’re intently monitoring the state of affairs and dealing to know the precise circumstances.
“As of as we speak, it’s our understanding that none of these detained is straight employed by Hyundai Motor Firm. We prioritize the protection and well-being of everybody working on the web site and adjust to all legal guidelines and laws wherever we function.”
100%: Can Musk Hit These Targets?
Picture by: InsideEVs
One situation for Musk’s trillion-dollar payday is promoting 20 million Teslas worldwide. Up to now, the corporate is estimated to have moved a bit over 7 million EVs. With no new or thrilling fashions within the pipeline, that 20 million goal seems to be like a moonshot.
Which raises the larger query: Ought to Tesla double down on its EV enterprise—the core moneymaker—earlier than chasing AI and robotics? Is it even potential to ship contemporary, compelling EVs whereas additionally making an attempt to construct humanoid robots and a fleet of robotaxis? And talking of robotaxis, how reasonable are one million of them when as we speak’s Mannequin Y taxis are nonetheless caught at Degree 2 and require human drivers behind the wheel?
Have a tip? Contact the writer: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com
