Tesla CEO Elon Musk has secured an unprecedented $1 trillion pay package, overwhelmingly approved by over 75% of shareholders. While historic, the actual disbursal of this colossal wealth is contingent upon the achievement of a series of extremely ambitious performance milestones over the next decade, meaning Musk is not yet officially the world's first trillionaire.

To put the sheer scale of this theoretical wealth into perspective, one could imagine Musk purchasing entire national economies. For instance, he could acquire Switzerland, with a GDP of $936.56 billion, and still have change. Alternatively, he could buy both Singapore ($547.39 billion) and Israel ($540.38 billion), going slightly over budget. With a modest increase to his budget, he could even purchase the Netherlands ($1.23 trillion) or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ($1.24 trillion).

In the realm of technology, while titans like Nvidia, Apple, and Google remain out of reach, Musk's package could fund the acquisition of multiple major tech companies. He could fully buy out firms such as Oracle, Tencent Holdings, Samsung Electronics, the Alibaba Group, Palantir Technologies, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), IBM, Uber, and Qualcomm, potentially with cash to spare.

The collective valuation of major sports leagues globally also pales in comparison. The four major US sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) and their 124 teams are valued at approximately $510 billion. Adding the top five European football leagues (EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1) and their 96 teams would bring the total to around $700 billion. This would still leave Musk with $300 billion, even after owning every team in these prestigious leagues. Throwing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams would add a mere $2.5 billion.

Musk could also significantly bankroll humanity's push to become a multi-planetary civilization. While a self-sustaining Mars colony has varying cost estimates, Musk's package could cover initial transportation costs, such as moving one million tonnes of cargo at an estimated $100,000 per tonne, totaling $100 billion. Establishing a full city could cost anywhere from $1 trillion to $10 trillion, spread over 40 or more years, requiring an annualized investment of $25 billion for a $1 trillion sum. NASA's estimate of $600 billion for such an endeavor would be well within his means.

Even Hollywood's 'big five' studios—Walt Disney ($210.72 billion), Sony ($168.52 billion), Universal Studios owner Comcast ($123.47 billion), Warner Bros Discovery ($55.50 billion), and Paramount Global ($16.22 billion)—could be acquired for a total of $574.43 billion, leaving Musk with over $400 billion. With that remainder, he could also purchase streaming giant Netflix, valued at around $465 billion.

In the cryptocurrency market, while not directly purchasable, Musk's pay package represents about one-third of the entire market's $3.4 trillion capitalization. Theoretically, he could acquire half of all Bitcoin (valued around $2 trillion) or buy out major altcoins like Ethereum, Tether, XRP, and BNB, which collectively amount to $849.2 billion.

Closer to home, the entire housing market of San Diego County, which recently reached a $1 trillion valuation, could be purchased by Musk, leaving his current personal wealth ($461 billion) untouched. For those with a preference for the skies, he could buy out the world's 10 biggest airlines by market cap, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines Holdings, and Ryanair, for a paltry $231.7 billion, retaining nearly $700 billion.

A private, nuclear-powered navy is also within conceptual reach. With each US Navy Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier costing around $13 billion, Musk could theoretically commission a fleet of 76 such vessels, surpassing the US Navy's current active fleet of 11, with $12 billion to spare.

As a known gamer, Musk could acquire several major video game studios. Excluding Microsoft (Xbox), he could buy PlayStation owners Sony ($169.93 billion), Nintendo ($107.67 billion), Electronic Arts ($49.98 billion), and Take Two Interactive ($46.56 billion), costing approximately $374.14 billion and leaving him with nearly $700 billion. The acquisition of Tencent ($747.35 billion) would be a larger undertaking but still within budget.

In the automotive sector, Musk could acquire a significant portion of his competition. Purchasing the world's biggest auto manufacturers by market cap—including Toyota Motor Corp, Xiaomi, BYD Co. Ltd., Ferrari N.V., General Motors (GM), Mercedes-Benz Group, BMW AG, Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co., and Honda Motor Co. Ltd.—would total around $956.8 billion, still leaving him with substantial funds.

Finally, for a touch of global generosity, Musk could acquire the Coca-Cola company ($297 billion) and provide a free bottle of Coke to every person on Earth (adding about $8 billion), totaling around $305 billion. As a philanthropic thought experiment, distributing his $1 trillion package equally would give every person on the planet about $121 (approx. ₹10,000). Focusing on the 700 million people in extreme poverty, he could provide each with nearly $1,500 (₹1.33 lakh), significantly transforming millions of lives.

Despite this immense potential, the actual receipt of the $1 trillion pay package is conditional on Musk meeting rigorous performance milestones over a 10-year period. These targets are considered highly ambitious and include selling one million of Tesla's humanoid robots (currently at zero), delivering 20 million Tesla cars (double the company's sales over the past two years), achieving 10 million active subscriptions for Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) service, and deploying at least one million robotaxis in commercial operation. Furthermore, Musk must remain Tesla CEO for seven and a half years to vest in any shares from the package and is required to outline a succession plan for the CEO role, though without a specified timeline. Additional shares, including 12% of Tesla's total, are tied to the company's market capitalization increasing to at least $8.5 trillion.

Even if Musk falls short of these ambitious goals, he is still positioned to benefit significantly. The world's richest man stands to gain at least $50 billion in additional Tesla shares for achieving milestones such as an 80% increase in the carmaker's market value, doubling vehicle sales, and tripling operational earnings, milestones he has already partly demonstrated. Currently, Musk receives no salary, with his entire compensation in Tesla stock. Therefore, even if the full $1 trillion payout doesn't materialize, successfully bringing Tesla's market cap near $8.5 trillion could still see him become the world's first-ever trillionaire.