More than two months ago, Tesla published its fourth “Master Plan,” a tongue-in-cheek post about how the company wants to spread “sustainable abundance” through its future products. Details remain woefully absent, but that hasn’t stopped Tesla from making it the centerpiece of its bid to convince shareholders to hand CEO Elon Musk a $1 trillion compensation package at the company’s annual meeting on Thursday.
If this vote passes, the world’s richest man will receive the largest pay package in corporate history.
When “Plan” was released, it was so vague that it drew criticism from some of the company’s biggest fans. Even Musk, who said the criticism was “[f]air’ and he claimed Tesla would “add more details,” acknowledging the plan’s lack of detail.
The suspension remains unchanged, despite being a central part of the Tesla relentless campaign.
Musk has argued that he cares less about money and more about maintaining control of Tesla and the “robot army” he wants to build — and has threatened to walk away if the vote fails.
Master Plan 4 stands in stark contrast to previous “Master Plans” released by Tesla. Each of these included specific goals and tangible ideas, though some were so lofty that Tesla has yet to achieve them. The third Master Plan, launched in 2023, focused on creating a sustainable energy economy and took the form of a 41 page white paper.
Tesla and Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
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Musk had teased the fourth Master Plan in June 2024. “Working on Tesla Master Plan 4,” Musk he wrote in X at that time. “It’s going to be epic.”
In August of this year, he wrote to another position that “Master Plan 3 was too complicated for almost anyone to understand” and said “Master Plan 4 will be concise”. Tesla released the plan just a few days later.
Despite its inaccuracy, virtually all of the materials Tesla has sent to shareholders regarding the vote promote the Fourth Master Plan as the reason for approving the compensation package. It is emphasized in brochures guiding shareholders how to vote There was a scream in Tesla third quarter shareholder letter. It has been mentioned in interviews by the chairman of the board Robin Denholm and design chief Franz von Holzhausen.
“A few days ago, Elon unveiled an inspiring next chapter for Tesla with his Master Plan, Part IV, which focuses on creating sustainable abundance for all,” Denholm and board member Kathleen Wilson-Thompson wrote in September letter to shareholdersagain without going into further detail. “We are, and always have been, a company that thinks bolder, acts faster and strives for a better future. The Master Plan, Part IV builds on this, reimagining work, mobility and energy and bringing AI into the physical world through products and services like FSD, Optimus and Robotaxi.”
Denholm was on a media blitz to support the $1 trillion pay package vote, but she wasn’t asked to lay out a clearer vision for Master Plan 4. Instead, she remained focused on the milestones Musk must meet to unlock the full $1 trillion pay package — almost all of which are outrageous versions of years.
Musk himself hasn’t directly mentioned Master Plan 4 in X since his September 2 post about adding more details. He spent much of the days leading up to the shareholder vote promoting the compensation package, stoking fears about immigrants and spreading misinformation about the New York mayoral election.
It wasn’t until an interview von Holzhausen did with the Ride the Lightning podcast in October that someone brought up the vagueness of the plan.
“[M]The initial reaction to this as a Tesla shareholder, Tesla owner, Tesla fan, and I saw a lot of it in the Tesla community, was that it seemed a little lacking in detail compared to previous Master Plans, which were pretty specific,” said host Ryan McCaffrey, who then quickly turned to a more positive set of questions for the chief designer.
“So why are you excited about the Master Plan Part 4 and how is Tesla going to do it? And that’s a big question,” McCaffrey asked.
“We’ll do it Tesla’s way of course,” von Holzhausen replied.
