This massive milestone for Musk would be achieved before receiving a penny from his new $1 trillion Tesla pay package that shareholders approved last fall. The controversial package could eventually be worth close to $1 trillion on its own if he achieves an ambitious set of performance targets that would radically reshape the company into an AI and robotics powerhouse. Musk has repeatedly said he expects software updates to allow hundreds of thousands of Teslas to operate autonomously without human intervention by the end of this year. The car company is also planning to begin production of its AI-powered Cybercab this year. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had a bromance with US President Donald Trump this past year (Picture: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Tesla struggles and Grok controversies However, this surge in Musk’s wealth comes as Tesla struggles in the marketplace. On Friday, the electric car company reported that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025. This 9% decline from the previous year is the company’s second annual drop. The company also lost its title as the world’s top electric-vehicle car seller as it was overtaken by China’s BYD, which sold 2.26 million vehicles last year. Tesla’s reversal in success has been fueled by customer backlash over Musk’s right-wing political positions, the expiration of US tax credits and growing global competition. Over the past year, Musk rose to remarkable influence in Washington due to his bromance with Donald Trump before it imploded in full public view. Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, on X has caused customer backlash (Picture: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) There has also been controversy surrounding Musk’s social media platform X as his AI chatbot, Grok, published antisemitic posts.