Elon Musk has been given a record-breaking pay deal of $56 billion by the shareholders of Tesla. The huge remuneration package is 3,000 times the average pay for a CEO in the USA. The average income in the USA in 2023 was $59,384. At that salary, it would take 943,014 years to earn $56 billion. Mr Musk's salary was agreed upon at Tesla's annual general meeting on Friday. Musk responded by telling the investors at the meeting that: "We have the most awesome shareholder base.…We are not just opening a new chapter for Tesla, we are starting a new book."

Musk's pay settlement was blocked by a court earlier this year. The judge said the size of the pay was unfair. However, shareholders said the deal was fair and in Tesla's best interests. Over 70 per cent of shareholders favoured the deal. The BBC quoted a car industry analyst as saying the vote was "a pretty ringing endorsement". He extolled Musk's business acumen. He said: "There's been about a 1,100% appreciation in Tesla stock, and that's pretty impressive. Most chief executives have never done anything like that." Shares in Tesla closed 3 per cent up on Friday.