Worrying sign of extreme inequality Others like Joanna Bryson, a professor in ethics and technology at Berlin's Hertie School of Governance, think Musk's pay deal is emblematic of a wider problem in US governance — how Big Tech's growth and power are creating extreme inequality, which she says is "unsustainable." "There’s a big security problem when individuals have more power than countries," she told DW. Bryson gave the examples of World War I and the pre-1929 US stock market bubble as times when the world was as unequal as it is now. "Anything that's giving disproportionate large amounts of money to any one person is creating entropy [moving from order to chaos]." An even bigger potential issue is key man risk. In Musk's case, this would be the negative impact on Tesla if he were unable to perform his role due to departure, illness, distraction, or death. Tesla's success is heavily tied to Musk’s leadership, vision and execution. The firm could be left vulnerable if he were to be preoccupied by his other ventures, like SpaceX or xAI. Musk accused of too many distractions Musk was already criticized for taking his eye off the ball earlier this year when he joined the Trump administration as the head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency — not the meme coin). His brief stint at DOGE triggered a backlash that spilled into Tesla's operations, with protests outside factories, calls for boycotts and even sabotage incidents that disrupted production and dented investor confidence. Musk stepped down from DOGE after just 130 days, and in July launched his new political movement, the America Party, aiming to challenge the two-party system and reshape national discourse. For some investors, the risk of distraction is no longer hypothetical — it’s unfolding in real time. "If Musk is not sufficiently motivated by his current holdings, this [new pay deal] will not be enough to persuade him to ignore his many side hustles and stop the outrageous political comments that a recent Yale University study has shown have cost the company and the shareholders one million sales," Minow told DW. The board said the primary objective of the bumper share deal is to keep Musk's attention on Tesla. He won't be able to sell newly awarded stock for up to a decade after receiving it. Trump and Musk are talking again after a very public falling out Image: Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo/picture alliance Doubts over robotics' near-term potential Even if he remains laser-focused, critics argue the goals themselves may be out of reach, especially the plan to produce a million Optimus humanoid robots per year. While Tesla has showcased Optimus prototypes performing basic tasks, many experts believe the technology is still in its infancy. Australian roboticist Rodney Brooks wrote an essay in September that Optimus and other humanoid robots are doomed to failure due to a lack of agility. "The general plan is that humanoid robots will be ... able to step in and do the manual things that humans do at lower prices and just as well. In my opinion, believing that this will happen any time within decades is pure fantasy thinking," Brooks wrote. Other skeptics warn that setting such futuristic milestones may be a way to justify Musk's eye-watering compensation while keeping the hype machine running. If Optimus fails to materialize at scale, it could undermine the credibility of the entire pay package. The most optimistic forecasts for more advanced humanoids believe they could be ready in two to five years, prompting Musk fans to predict that one man can deliver on the promise. "As a shareholder, I'd rather have Elon have the keys to an army of bots than anybody else," Merz told Bloomberg. "Show me one other CEO who did even half of what Elon has accomplished." Whether Musk can juggle Tesla, politics and a robot army is the trillion-dollar question. But one thing’s certain: we'll need shades and plenty of popcorn to watch it unfold. Edited by: Uwe Hessler