Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Sunday, November 9th.

Today on Forbes, Elon Musk's $1 trillion pay plan, the case for magical thinking.

The only thing more outlandish than Elon Musk's demand for a $1 trillion pay package is the idea

that Tesla's shareholders would grant it. And yet, that is

how things played out, with everyone from massive investment funds to small individual investors,

approving compensation so vast, the new Pope decried it. It's a bet that lightning will strike

again for the most successful U.S. industrial entrepreneur

of the 21st century, that Musk can overcome Tesla's falling electric vehicle sales and his

tarnished image by pivoting to AI-powered robotaxies and humanoid robots.

With its stock already trading near an all-time high, at over 300 times projected earnings,

many investors appear to think that's a foregone conclusion even before votes were tallied at Thursday's annual meeting.

Brandon Earhart, Tesla's General Counsel, told attendees that over 75% of shareholders approved the pay package.

Gautam Mukunda, a professor with the Yale School of Management, said, quote,

Tesla's current valuation only makes sense if you attribute magic powers to Elon Musk.

If you break out the new business lines he's talking about, there's no particular reason

to believe that Tesla is the

leading company for self-driving cars. Waymo's technology is clearly better. The only evidence

that Tesla is the leader in this technology is that Elon Musk says so. The vote Thursday came

at a frat time for the company that kick-started the modern EV industry, one that Musk also

seems to be losing interest in. Tesla board chair Robin Denholm and CFO Vibe of Tenasia argued in recent

weeks that retaining Musk with stock that would eventually give him at least a 25% stake in the

company, up from about 13% currently, is necessary for its long-term growth

...