Tesla shareholders have approved a record-breaking pay package for boss Elon Musk that could be worth nearly $1 trillion (£760 billion).
The unprecedented deal was approved by 75% of Tesla shareholders who cast votes at the firm's annual general meeting on Thursday.
The deal requires Musk, who is already the world's richest man, to drastically raise the electric car firm's market value over a period of years. If he meets various targets, he will be rewarded with hundreds of millions of new shares.
The scale of the deal is controversial, but the Tesla board argued that Musk might leave the company if it was not approved - and that it could not afford to lose him.
The announcement drew loud applause from the audience at the meeting in Austin, Texas. Musk took to the stage and danced to chants of his name.
What we're about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book, he said.
Other shareholder meetings are snoozefests but ours are bangers. Look at this. This is sick, Musk said.
The milestones Musk must achieve include raising Tesla's market value to $8.5 trillion from $1.4 trillion at the time of writing.
He would also need to get a million self-driving Robotaxi vehicles into commercial operation.
However, Musk's early remarks on Thursday placed the spotlight on the Optimus robot, leading some analysts to express concern that he may not focus adequately on reviving the electric vehicle business.
Analyst Gene Munster noted on social media, Let it sink in where Musk's head is at. His vision of the 'new book' starts with Optimus. No mention of cars, FDS and robotaxi yet.
Later, Musk did refer to FSD, shorthand for full-self-driving, mentioning that the company was almost comfortable allowing drivers to text and drive essentially. He also likened dealing with regulators to being in a Franz Kafka novel.
The announcement comes as U.S. regulators investigate Tesla's self-driving features after numerous incidents involving traffic law violations that have resulted in accidents.
