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Tesla shareholders overwhelmingly approved a $1 trillion pay package intended to keep Elon Musk in charge of the company for the next decade, as the automaker enters a new phase defined by bets on artificial intelligence.

The measure had met unusual resistance from investors, advisers and activists who argued it was excessive or unmerited, pointing to Musk’s recent track record of work outside Tesla — including his time overseeing the U.S. DOGE Service — some of which has hurt the brand. But Musk also presided over historic gains, turning the company into the world’s most valuable automaker and becoming the world’s richest person......

The pay package heralds a new era of executive compensation even in an already hyperinflated world of CEO pay. Its only close comparison is Musk’s prior deal with Tesla, a $56 billion pay package that is before the Delaware Supreme Court after another Delaware judge invalidated it, citing an allegedly unfair process.

Rohan Williamson, professor of finance at Georgetown University, said Musk’s argument for commanding such a vast paycheck is largely unique to Tesla — though similar deals may become more prevalent in an age of founder-led start-ups.

“No matter how you slice it, it’s a lot,” Williamson said. But the deal seeks to emphasize Musk’s central — even singular — role in the company’s rise, and its fate going forward.