At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, shareholders overwhelmingly approved a compensation package for CEO Elon Musk that could reach US$1 trillion–the highest ever in corporate history. (Sources: Reuters +2 and Financial Times +2).
This vote received overwhelming support, garnering over 75% of voting shares. Al Jazeera + The Washington Post have provided details about what this deal entails.
Musk has agreed to link his compensation to very ambitious performance milestones. These include:

Tesla’s target market capitalization of $8.5 trillion.
The Guardian (+1). Deliver of multiple millions of vehicles and deployment of multiple robots/robotaxis.
Al Jazeera (+2). Financial Times.
Musk plans on fulfilling his obligations for the full required term as CEO while leading Tesla through an aggressive transformation into artificial intelligence and robotics, according to The Washington Post (+1). If his key targets are met, then he may only see full upside benefits of being CEO for that duration (WIRE (+1).
Why It Matters Tesla’s board argues that keeping Elon Musk as the company’s CEO is critical to their execution of their vision. They cited his “unique perspective” as fundamental in helping navigate an inflection point they deemed as key.
According to Investopedia,
Musk personally could become the world’s first trillionaire–at least on paper–if Tesla hits all milestones as expected, according to People.com.
As shareholders and governance observers consider this deal, many questions about executive pay, dilution of existing shareholders and concentration of power arise. Proxy advisory firms raised concerns regarding its size and structure.
Reuters made noted several criticisms and caveats related to it.
Critics identify several warning signals:

This deal’s scale is unprecedented and could radically dilute existing shareholders’ holdings, according to Alphaspread’s report on it. Some milestones may also prove difficult to meet – raising questions over their viability on Stocktwits and Stocktwits respectively.
Governance concerns remain: Musk’s diversifying business interests — such as AI and rocketry ventures — raise concerns over his focus. Furthermore, board independence has come under increased scrutiny following lawsuits regarding his 2018 pay package. AInvest
Plus 1
Given their ambitious targets, Tesla must dramatically accelerate their growth trajectory in order to meet them. Scaling production, developing robotics solutions and increasing market value by multiples remain unknown; now is the time for Musk and Tesla to demonstrate tangible results so their upside potential can be realized.

Simply stated, investor approval of this historic pay deal shows a vote of trust in Musk despite potential risks and controversy surrounding him as leader of Tesla Motors Inc. Whether or not it becomes a reward for transformative achievement will depend on what happens over the next decade.