More than two months ago, Tesla published its fourth “Master Plan,” a gauzy post about how the company wants to spread “sustainable abundance” via its future products. Details remain woefully absent, but that hasn’t stopped Tesla from making it the central prop in its bid to convince shareholders to hand CEO Elon Musk a compensation package worth $1 trillion at the company’s annual meeting on Thursday.
If that vote passes, the world’s richest man would receive the biggest pay package in corporate history.
When the “Plan” released, it was so vague that it drew criticism from some of the company’s biggest fans. Even Musk, who said that criticism was “[f]air” and claimed Tesla would “add more specifics,” acknowledged the plan’s lack of details.
The post remains unchanged, despite the fact that it’s a centerpiece of Tesla’s relentless campaign.
Musk has maintained he cares less about the money and more about retaining control over Tesla and the “robot army” he wants to build — and he has threatened to leave if the vote fails.
Master Plan 4 lies in stark contrast to prior “Master Plans” released by Tesla. Each of those included concrete goals and tangible ideas, though some were so lofty that Tesla has still not yet accomplished them. The third Master Plan, released in 2023, focused on creating a sustainable energy economy and came in the form of a 41-page white paper.
Tesla and Musk didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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Musk teased the fourth Master Plan back in June 2024. “Working on the Tesla Master Plan 4,” Musk wrote on X at the time. “It will be epic.”
In August of this year, he wrote in another post that “Master Plan 3 was too complex for almost anyone to understand,” and said “Master Plan 4 will be concise.” Tesla published the plan just a few days later.
Despite its imprecision, essentially all materials Tesla has sent to shareholders about the vote promote the fourth Master Plan as a reason to approve the compensation package. It is highlighted on the pamphlets that instruct shareholders how to vote. It got a shoutout in Tesla’s third-quarter shareholder letter. It’s been referenced in interviews by board chair Robyn Denholm and design leader Franz von Holzhausen.
“A few days ago, Elon unveiled an inspiring next chapter for Tesla with Master Plan, Part IV, which is focused on creating a Sustainable Abundance for all,” Denholm and fellow board member Kathleen Wilson-Thompson wrote in a September letter to shareholders, again without going into further specifics. “We are, and have always been, a company that thinks bolder, acts faster and strives for a better future. Master Plan, Part IV builds on that, by reimagining labor, mobility and energy and bringing AI into the physical world through products and services like FSD, Optimus and Robotaxi.”
Denholm has been on a media blitz drumming up support for the $1 trillion pay package vote, but she has not been asked to lay out a clearer vision for Master Plan 4. She’s instead remained focused on the milestones Musk needs to meet to unlock the full $1 trillion of his pay package — almost all of which are watered down versions of the outrageous promises he’s made through the years.
Musk himself has not directly brought up Master Plan 4 on X since his September 2 post about adding more specifics. He has spent much of the days before the shareholder vote promoting the compensation package, fear-mongering about immigrants, and spreading misinformation about the New York City mayoral election.
It was only during an interview that von Holzhausen did with the Ride the Lightning podcast in October that someone brought up the vagueness of the plan.
“[M]y initial reaction to it as a Tesla shareholder, Tesla owner, Tesla fan, and I saw a lot of this in the Tesla Community, was that it seemed like it was a little lacking in details compared to the previous Master Plans, which were pretty concrete,” host Ryan McCaffrey said, who then quickly pivoted to a more positive set of questions for the chief designer.
“So, why are you excited about Master Plan Part 4 and sort of how is Tesla going to get this done? And that’s a big question,” McCaffrey asked.
“We’ll do it in Tesla fashion of course,” von Holzhausen responded.
