For most companies, there's roughly a 12-month period where the business is at its peak value, and then it crashes out. The companies that capture generational returns are often the ones where someone spies that moment instead of assuming the good times will get even better.
The scheme is a key component of the electric-car manufacturer's road map for its next 10 years: Ahead of Tesla's annual general meeting in November, the board is proposing that if Musk carries the company to an $8.5 trillion valuation-well beyond what any other firm is worth right now-and meets certain operational milestones, he gets a bundle of stock that would be worth about $900 billion at those prices.