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With Tesla shareholders set to vote on a proposed 10-year, $1 trillion compensation package for CEO Elon Musk in November, board chair Robyn Denholm spoke to The New York Times<\/a> to defend what would be the largest pay package in corporate history<\/a>.<\/p>\n Denholm, who was also on the special committee that put the compensation proposal together, argued that Musk needs to be motivated by extraordinary challenges tied to extraordinary compensation. At the same time, she suggested he\u2019s less interested in the additional wealth that the promised Tesla shares would represent, and more in the voting power.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a little bit weird talking about the dollars when it\u2019s actually the voting influence,\u201d said Denholm, whom The Times described as \u201coccasionally appearing ill at ease\u201d during the interview.<\/p>\n It might also seem counterintuitive to offer such a massive pay package when Tesla\u2019s profits and vehicle sales are falling<\/a>, but Denholm insisted that the plan is about \u201cfuture performance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about past performance,\u201d she said. \u201cHe gets nothing if he doesn\u2019t perform against the goals.\u201d<\/p>\n As TechCrunch previously noted, the package\u2019s goals are considerably less ambitious<\/a> than some of the promises Musk has made about Tesla in the past.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n