Elon Musk defends $1 trillion pay package: 'I just don't feel comfortable building a robot army here and then being ousted'
Fortune (via Yahoo Finance)
Tesla Q3 2025 earnings call
“I just don't feel comfortable building a robot army here and then being ousted because of some asinine recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis... I mean, those guys are corporate terrorists”
Elon Musk22 October 2025- What you'll lose1/5
Up to $1 trillion of shareholders' company.
- Condescension4/5
Proxy advisers as 'corporate terrorists'.
- Tone-deafness5/5
'Building a robot army' as the reason for the pay.
- Doom3/5
An 'enormous robot army', under his 'strong influence'.
- Hypocrisy0/5
None.
Full time13 pitchforksof a possible 25
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The occasion
Tesla Q3 2025 earnings call, 22 October 2025.
Context
Days before Tesla shareholders voted on a pay package of up to $1 trillion, Musk told the earnings call he needed enough voting power to keep 'a strong influence' over the 'enormous robot army' of Optimus humanoids he wants to build, and attacked the proxy advisers urging a no vote. Fast Company's quotation omits 'asinine'; Fortune and Electrek include it.
Crowd reaction
Critical commentary
Electrek wrote: 'Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no stranger to unrealistic proclamations, but today's is a doozie.' Futurism's headline calls the remarks 'suspicious', and Fast Company said the earnings report came 'with a side of begging from CEO Elon Musk'.
- Fortune (via Yahoo Finance): Elon Musk defends $1 trillion pay package: 'I just don't feel comfortable building a robot army here and then being ousted'
- Electrek: Elon Musk says he needs $1 trillion to control Tesla's robot army. Yes, really.
- Futurism: Elon Musk Makes Suspicious Remarks About His Robot Army
- Fast Company: Elon Musk's focus on building a robot army overshadows Tesla's earnings miss
- Where the exact words are printed