Elon Musk might get 1,000,000,000,000 more reasons to prioritize Tesla’s growth this afternoon, when shareholders gather for the EV-maker’s annual meeting and decide on the largest compensation package in history.

Green light likely: Analysts (and prediction markets) expect investors to OK the unprecedented pay package, which Tesla’s board of directors proposed in September. It’ll award Musk up to $1 trillion worth of Tesla shares over the next decade—bringing his stake to ~29%—if the company hits sky-high milestones that include delivering millions of cars and robots, quintupling its market value, and growing its profitability 30x.

Supporters include…

Anyone who believes that Musk is the only one capable of making The Jetsons a reality, plus anyone nervous that he’d make good on threats to walk if the pay package is nixed—which would likely tank Tesla’s stock. Investors on the “yea” side consist of:

• Pension managers in Republican-led states, including Florida, who say that Musk will maximize retirees’ returns if incentivized.
• Some financial firms, including Baron Capital, which manages $40+ billion in assets.
• Tesla’s board and Musk himself, who can vote with his 15% share. He recently said he’s uncomfortable building a “robot army” without “strong influence” over it, referencing Tesla’s budding humanoid division.

Critics include…

Some financial bigwigs and the Vatican:

• Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, said it voted no. It’s concerned that Tesla’s board—which includes Musk’s brother and several friends—lacks independence, and that the company is becoming too reliant on Musk’s happiness.
• Retirement funds in Democrat-led states, including the largest public pension fund in the US, CalPERS, objected.
• Powerful advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Service and Glass Lewis said the proposal gives Musk too much power. (In response, Musk called them “corporate terrorists.”)
• Pope Leo panned the pay package as a would-be contributor to the widening income gap.

See you in court? If approved, shareholders may sue to block the package, as they did over Musk’s $56 billion compensation deal from 2018.—ML

Trump’s tariffs faced Supreme Court skepticism. Even members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared open to the idea that President Trump may have exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on goods from nearly every country, asking pointed questions during more than two hours of oral arguments over the legality of the president’s signature economic policy yesterday. The justices pressed the government’s lawyer on whether tariffs are a tax that must therefore be put in place by Congress. The Trump administration has said that overturning the tariffs would weaken the US and could require it to refund $750+ billion. But oral arguments do not always preview the court’s ultimate decision, which in this case is expected by June.

Finally, some good news about the labor market. Private companies added a stronger-than-expected 42,000 jobs last month, according to ADP. That breaks a two-month streak of declines and provides a glimmer of hope about the labor market, even as several big companies have recently announced large layoffs. It’s also likely to be the only data about jobs that the Fed has to go off of when deciding whether to cut interest rates again next month, as the ongoing government shutdown means there’s unlikely to be official numbers released.

Details emerge about UPS plane crash that killed at least 12. The cause of Tuesday’s deadly crash, in which a UPS cargo plane’s left wing caught fire and its engine detached shortly after takeoff, is still being investigated. Authorities said the death toll could continue to rise. But new information began to come out about the plane involved, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the MD-11 plane was 34 years old and had undergone major repairs to its fuel tank in September. Though there is no indication that the plane’s age was a factor in the crash, the WSJ reports that both UPS and rival FedEx still use the model—which is no longer used as a passenger plane—but are phasing it out.—AR 

The French government said it’s moving to temporarily suspend Shein’s web platform in the country after authorities found numerous unsavory and potentially illegal items for sale, including a childlike sex doll and weapons. Shein said it removed the sex doll and has paused its third-party marketplace in the country while it reevaluates listing protocols.

The suspension came on the same day that Shein opened its first physical location in Paris’s BHV luxury department store, which is within walking distance of Paris City Hall and Notre Dame Cathedral. Even before the sex doll kerfuffle, Shein was facing intense pressure over the brick-and-mortar opening:

• A dozen brands have already left the iconic BHV department store to avoid being neighbors with Shein.
• An online petition opposing Shein’s store opening has gathered over 120,000 signatures.

The controversy adds new concerns on top of those about the company’s environmental impact and history of questionable labor practices. Shein has refused to answer questions from US and UK lawmakers about whether its supply chain relies on forced labor.

A strange scene for a ribbon-cutting ceremony…the Shein store opening yesterday had shoppers weaving through crowds of protesters wielding anti-Shein signs and riot officers. It’s unclear if the digital suspension will impact the physical store.—MM

Google CEO Sundar Pichai wants to launch AI data centers into space, but in a good way. The company’s ambitious Project Suncatcher aims to replace the earth-bound buildings that are currently a drain on electricity and water with low-orbit satellites fueled entirely by solar power.

Nothing’s launching yet: Google unveiled the plan on Tuesday, classifying it as a moonshot that won’t be feasible until the middle of the next decade. Obstacles include:

• The satellite clusters equipped with solar panels must be tighter than any current operational satellite constellation, staying within a kilometer to provide optimal power. But Google’s models indicate that satellites only a few hundred meters apart are feasible.
• The sun’s radiation is great for Superman, but it’s bad for processing units. Google is still testing how much radiation exposure the units can withstand before they fail.
• It’s harder for satellites traveling at high speeds to remain connected so they can communicate, an issue Google believes can be solved over time.

A test launch is planned for 2027, although Google anticipates the project will become more economical by the mid-2030s.

The new space race? Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos sees orbiting data centers as the most cost-efficient future. Last week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said his Starlink satellites could possess the same capabilities in the future.—DL

Major news out of US colleges: More students than ever are opting for a second major. Now that learning to code doesn’t guarantee a high-paying job, college students are double-majoring to help their resumes stand out. Based on a Hechinger Report analysis of federal data, the Washington Post reports:

• Nationwide, ~12% of graduates earned more than one credential in the 2023–2024 school year, compared to just 6% a decade earlier.
• It’s happening at elite universities, private colleges, and massive state schools. Between 2014 and 2024, double majors spiked 334% at Harvard, 317% at Belmont University, and 169% at the University of California, San Diego.

And with the prospect of a super-tight job market for new grads looming, many appear as strategic about what subjects to study as they are about how to fit in three different parties on opposite ends of campus in the same night. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where double majors are up 25% over the decade, almost 60% of computer science students who take on a second major pick data science—a field where the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to see a growth of high-salaried jobs.—AR