Advertising, sky-high salaries. You don't know how hard Tesla has worked to keep Elon Musk as its CEO.

Recently, Tesla has gone against its usual practice and for the first time placed advertisements on streaming platforms such as X, Instagram, and Paramount+ to call on shareholders to support its CEO's compensation plan. Shockingly, these ads are not promoting the Model Y or Cybertruck but are clearly aimed at one goal: voting in favor of keeping Elon Musk in his position.

In 2025, Tesla stands at an unprecedented crossroads. This tech company, which once aimed to revolutionize the traditional automotive industry, is no longer content with "manufacturing the best electric vehicles." It is attempting to transform into a comprehensive tech giant spanning artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, energy networks, and even humanoid robots. And in this grand strategic leap, one name remains at the center - Elon Musk.

Tesla is conducting a large - scale public opinion mobilization for its CEO's compensation plan for the first time in its history. The entire company seems to regard Musk's presence as a "necessary condition" for the company's future survival, rather than an "optional one." So, why would a tech giant with a market value that once exceeded one trillion dollars break its own creed, face external doubts, and spare no effort to retain this controversial leader?

From an Automobile Manufacturer to an AI Empire

Tesla's vision has long transcended "selling cars." In Musk's blueprint, Tesla's ultimate form is a tech company driven by artificial intelligence. The path of this transformation is clearly visible: Full Self - Driving (FSD), Robotaxi, Dojo supercomputer, Optimus humanoid robot, energy network (Solar Roof + Powerwall)... These businesses are no longer limited to the scope of traditional automobile manufacturing but point to a more extensive "intelligent ecosystem" system.

The advancement of this series of strategies highly depends on Musk's personal will and decision - making style. He is not only the company's CEO but also the chief product officer, technical architect, and vision designer. Take FSD as an example. Musk adheres to the "pure vision approach" and refuses to rely on lidar. This decision has been controversial in the industry for a long time but has never been shaken by the board of directors. It is this "dictatorial" leadership style that enables Tesla to maintain a high degree of consistency and rapid iteration ability in the autonomous driving technology path.

If Musk leaves, Tesla is very likely to fall into strategic confusion. The new CEO may prefer a more conservative and traditional - automaker - like approach, such as slowing down the investment in FSD, cutting the budget for the Robotaxi project, and focusing on short - term profits. This will directly cause Tesla to lose its "tech pioneer" label and become just another traditional automaker in the process of electrification transformation. For shareholders, this means a fundamental reconstruction of the company's valuation logic - from a "high - growth tech stock" to a "low - growth manufacturing stock," and the market - value ceiling will drop significantly.

Therefore, the "sky - high compensation plan" proposed by the board of directors - requiring Musk to increase the company's market value from $1.36 trillion to $8.5 trillion - is not simply an incentive but a "strategic binding agreement." By deeply tying Musk's personal interests to the company's long - term value, it ensures that he will continue to promote these high - risk, high - investment innovation projects in the next decade. As board chair Robin Denholm said, "Retaining and motivating Elon is the key for Tesla to become the most valuable company in history." This is not an exaggeration but a clear understanding of Tesla's strategic essence.

Is Musk the 'Only Stabilizer'?

In modern business, brand value is often more decisive than tangible assets. And Tesla's brand is deeply bound to Musk's personal IP. It can even be said that Musk is Tesla's "living billboard."

Statistics show that Musk has more than 180 million followers on the X platform (formerly Twitter), and the spread of a single tweet of his often exceeds the headlines of mainstream media. His every word about Tesla's product updates, technological progress, or future vision can trigger global discussions and media reports. This "built - in traffic" ability has saved Tesla billions of dollars in advertising expenses. In contrast, traditional automakers need to invest huge amounts of money in brand marketing every year, while Tesla gets global exposure almost "for free."

More importantly, Musk's personal charm attracts a large number of top - notch technical talents. In Silicon Valley, joining Tesla is regarded as a symbol of "participating in changing the world." Many engineers are willing to accept a salary lower than the market level to join Musk's team. This "vision - driven" talent - gathering effect is an important guarantee for Tesla to maintain its leading position in fields such as AI and battery technology.

In addition, Musk's "ecosystem synergy" ability also creates unique advantages for Tesla. For example, the X platform can provide a data entry point for Tesla's connected - car services; SpaceX's rocket - launch technology has promoted the development of Starlink, which may become the long - distance communication infrastructure for Robotaxis in the future; Neuralink's brain - computer interface research may synergize with the human - machine interaction of autonomous driving in the long run. This cross - enterprise, cross - field resource - integration ability is difficult to replicate for any professional manager.

Retaining Musk is not only about keeping a CEO but also about preserving Tesla's core brand assets and ecosystem entry point. Once he leaves, Tesla's brand appeal will decline sharply, its talent - attraction ability will weaken, the ecosystem synergy advantage will collapse, and the company's valuation will face the risk of "demystification."

Although Tesla is making rapid progress in technological innovation, it faces severe short - term operational challenges. From 2024 to 2025, the growth rate of the global electric - vehicle market has slowed down, competition has intensified, and emerging brands such as BYD, Xiaomi, and NIO have risen rapidly, squeezing Tesla's market share. At the same time, the sales of the Model S/X are weak, the Model 3/Y are under price - war pressure, and the company's profit margin is continuously under pressure.

In this context, Musk's strategic determination is regarded as the key to stabilizing the morale of the troops. He dares to expand against the trend in the industry's winter, such as accelerating the construction of the Mexican Gigafactory, increasing the R & D investment in the 4680 battery, and firmly promoting the commercialization of FSD. This "counter - cyclical investment" courage is the core competitiveness for Tesla to weather the cycle.

More importantly, Tesla has not announced a clear CEO succession plan. Although Musk has mentioned that he "may step down within the next five years," the board of directors is obviously not prepared. Among Tesla's senior management team, there is no successor with the same strategic vision, technical understanding, and public influence. Replacing the CEO rashly is very likely to cause management turmoil, collapse of investor confidence, and even lead to the company being acquired or split by radical shareholders.

Therefore, retaining Musk is also to buy time for the cultivation of a successor. The board of directors hopes that through the compensation plan, Musk will continue to steer the company steadily in the next few years while gradually cultivating an internal successor to achieve a smooth transition. Otherwise, replacing the leader in a hurry is like "changing the engine while flying," which is extremely risky.

Tesla is sparing no effort to retain Musk, and the answer is not simply "personal worship." For Tesla, Musk is both the "engine," the "steering wheel," and the "brand soul." His presence maintains the company's strategic direction, innovation vitality, and market valuation.

However, this high - degree of dependence also hides potential risks. When a company's future depends on one person, its governance structure is difficult to truly modernize. Musk's scattered energy (simultaneously leading multiple companies such as SpaceX, X, and Neuralink), emotional decision - making style, and frequent public controversies all bring uncertainties to Tesla.

But at least for now, Tesla has no other choice. It must use all means - including breaking its own creed, placing "non - product ads," and offering a "sky - high salary" - to ensure Musk's retention. In the future, Tesla may find a successor and achieve a smooth transition. But before that, it still needs to rely on Musk's vision and courage to weather the storm of transformation. As the ad says at the end, "The future of Tesla is in your hands." And the subtext of this sentence may be: Without Musk, there is no future for Tesla.

This article is from the WeChat official account "BT Finance," author: Yuan Fang. It is published by 36Kr with permission.