Tesla's board recently proposed a new performance award that ties up to $900 billion in equity to milestones including scaling robotaxis, Optimus humanoid robots, and reaching an $8.5 trillion market cap, with full vesting requiring Musk to remain CEO for at least seven years. This structure, combined with his recent exercise of the 2018 award that boosted his voting stake near 20 percent and his return to full-time focus after stepping back from government roles, underpins the 96 percent market-implied odds he stays in place. While strong alignment reduces near-term departure risk, realistic disruptions could still arise from health events, regulatory actions targeting Tesla's autonomous driving programs, or board intervention if key AI and robotics targets slip significantly.