To say that circumstances today are challenging is an understatement. With a pandemic ravaging the globe over the previous months, it has been extra difficult to keep a business afloat. Having a business thrive in such a time is an even bigger task. But for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, this is a challenge that is not impossible to accomplish, as Tesla, an electric car maker that he has led for 12 years, continued to thrive despite the pandemic, with TSLA stock reaching all-time highs this year.
Barron’s list of its top CEOs in the world this year takes into account how leaders in the industry led their respective companies during these trying times. It takes a special kind of leader, after all, to lead an enterprise to greater heights while most of the world is locked down and actively battling a deadly virus. As could be seen in Barron’s cover of its top CEO’s list, Musk, the CEO of a car company, holds a place in the publication’s esteemed rankings.
The financial firm lauded Musk for being the ultimate multitasker, with both his primary companies, SpaceX and Tesla, hitting milestones this year. At the end of May, for example, a Falcon 9 rocket that was designed and manufactured in-house by SpaceX flew two American astronauts to the International Space Station, then landed back on a droneship to be refurbished and reused. The feat marked the first time since 2011 that American astronauts were able to launch from American soil using a rocket made by an American company.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon launch in May provided some much needed reprieve from the ongoing pandemic, and it was appreciated as such. However, Barron’s noted that ultimately, what established Musk at his place in its top CEOs list was his work with Tesla, which was able to grow and push its operations despite the outbreak of the coronavirus. Granted, Musk ended up in some controversy once more as he battled Alameda County officials in his efforts to reopen the Fremont Factory, but his initiative seemed poised to pay off.
Barron’s noted that Tesla, which made its stock market debut in 2010, has gone up 50-fold since its IPO. And this year alone, the stock has more than doubled, reaching past $1,000 per share amidst the company’s continued push of its Model Y crossover. The publication also highlighted that Tesla’s momentum does not only affect the company itself. With the undeniable success of its vehicles like the Model S and the Model 3, veteran carmakers like Volkswagen and General Motors are now playing catch up.
Elon Musk has led Tesla to become a true disruptor of the automotive industry, to the point where it now dwarfs veteran automakers in market cap. Over the years, the company has transformed itself from a maker of a niche vehicle to a firm that makes the world’s most sought after mass market electric cars. What is even more fascinating is that Elon Musk and Tesla are only getting started. There are more vehicle segments to expand into, and Tesla Energy, a beast of a business estimated by legendary billionaire Ron Baron to potentially be worth $500 billion on its own by 2030, is only starting to ramp now.
Elon Musk
Tesla board reveals reasoning for CEO Elon Musk’s new $1 trillion pay package
“Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.”

Tesla’s Board of Directors has proposed a new pay package for company CEO Elon Musk that would result in $1 trillion in stock offerings if he is able to meet several lofty performance targets.
Musk, who has not been meaningfully compensated since 2017, completed his last pay package by delivering billions in shareholder value through a variety of performance-based “tranches,” which were met and resulted in the award of billions in stock.
Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation
However, Musk was unable to claim this award due to a ruling by the Delaware Chancery Court, which deemed the payout an “unfathomable sum.”
Now, the company is taking steps to ensure Musk gets paid, as the Board feels that it is crucial to retain its CEO, who has been responsible for much of the company’s success.
This is not a statement to undermine the work of all of Tesla’s terrific employees, but a ship needs to be captained by someone, and Musk has proven he is the right person for the job.
The Board also believes that, based on a statement made by the company in its proxy, various issues will be discussed during the upcoming Shareholder Meeting.
Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson recognized Musk’s contributions in a statement, which encouraged shareholders to vote to approve the payout:
“We’re asking you to approve the 2025 CEO Performance Award. In designing the new performance award, we explored numerous alternatives. Ultimately, the new award aims to build upon the success of the 2018 CEO Performance Award framework, which ensure that Elon was only paid for the performance delivered and incentivized to guide Tesla through a period of meteoric growth. The 2025 CEO Performance Award similarly challegnes Elon to again meet a series of even more aspirational goals, including operational milestones focused on reaching Adjusted EBITDA targets (thresholds that are up to 28 times higher than the 2108 CEO Performance Award’s top Adjusted EBITDA milestone) and rolling out new or expanded product offerings (including 1 million Robotaxis in commercial operation and delivery of 1 million AI Bots), all while growing the company’s market capitalization by trillions of dollars.
Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.
In addition to these unprecedented performance milestones, the 2025 CEO Performance Award also includes innovative structural features, born out of the special committee’s considered analysis and extensive shareholder feedback. These features include supercharged retention (at least seven and a half years and up to 10 years to vest in the full award), structural protections to minimize stock price volatility due to administration of this award and, thereafter, incentives for Elon to participate in the Board’s continued development of a framework for long-term CEO Succession. If Elon achieves all the performance milestones under this principle-based 2025 CEO Performance Award, his leadership will propel Tesla to become the most valuable company in history.”
Musk will have a lot of things to accomplish to receive the 423,743,904 shares, which are divided into 12 tranches.
However, the Board feels he is the right person for the job, and they want him to remain the CEO. This package should ensure that he stays with Tesla, as long as shareholders feel the same way.
News
Tesla Robotaxi app download rate demolishes Uber, Waymo all-time highs
After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.

Tesla launched its Robotaxi app to the general public yesterday, and the number of downloads is a testament to the platform’s high demand for testing.
After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.
Tesla Robotaxi makes major expansion with official public app launch
Downloading the app is available to iOS users, so if you have an iPhone, you can get it and join the waitlist. Tesla has not yet launched the Robotaxi app for the Android platform, but did hint that it would be coming soon.
The testing phase with the group Tesla selected has gone well. In Austin, the City has only listed one “Safety Concern” with Robotaxi during the testing phase. For the most part, things have gone extremely well, and riders have had good things to say.
Tesla is still operating with some safeguards in place, such as Safety Monitors and Safety Drivers, but these are precautionary and temporary; CEO Elon Musk has said they should be removed by the end of the year.
Elon Musk says Tesla will take Safety Drivers out of Robotaxi: here’s when
Even still, Tesla Robotaxi is something that many people want to experience, and the app downloads prove it.
The Tesla Robotaxi app was downloaded at a rate that exceeded all rolling 30-day periods of both Uber and Waymo, according to Brett Winton of ARK Invest. Tesla’s Robotaxi’s first day on the App Store exceeded Uber’s by 40 percent and Waymo’s best download day ever by six times:
Today’s Tesla Robotaxi App downloads outpaced Uber across all rolling 30 day periods by 40% and bested Waymo’s best download day ever by >6x pic.twitter.com/s9s1XTsUu2
— Brett Winton (@wintonARK) September 5, 2025
The surge in downloads is a good indication of how in demand the Robotaxi suite was, as many people within the community had vocalized their requests to try the platform, but Tesla was not ready to expand it beyond its handpicked group.
The expansion of the program will result in more rides, provided Tesla continues to expand its fleet of vehicles. It has already admitted many of those who were initially placed on the waitlist.
News
Elon Musk’s xAI expands to Seattle with salaries up to $440,000
The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is opening a new office in Seattle as it accelerates its global expansion.
The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X. xAI is also hiring for its first positions in the new site.
New Seattle office
As could be seen on xAI’s Careers webpage, the Seattle office is currently hiring for three engineering roles. Each of the three technical roles tied to the new site carry salaries ranging from $180,000 to $440,000.
The new office adds to xAI’s growing presence, which now spans San Francisco, Austin, London, Dublin, New York, and Memphis. The Seattle-based roles focus on video and image generation systems, signaling Musk’s intent to challenge rivals like OpenAI and Meta in generative AI.
Pressures and challenges
Seattle also places xAI within reach of Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. Microsoft has emerged as a central player in the AI race through its multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, making xAI’s move into the region notable. The competition for AI specialists has pushed salaries higher across the industry, with filings showing OpenAI staff earning up to $530,000 and Anthropic engineers as much as $690,000 annually, as noted by Insider.
The startup has also seen some high-profile departures in recent months, including cofounder Igor Babuschkin and general counsel Robert Keele. Still, xAI continues to grow aggressively, and its Grok large language model has been gaining momentum among mainstream users. Work also continues to be underway to further build out the company’s Colossus supercomputer cluster. Reports have also suggested that xAI has moved into San Francisco offices in the Mission District, a site Musk initially leased during OpenAI’s early years.
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