Tesla shareholders have approved a record-breaking pay package for boss Elon Musk that could be worth nearly $1tn (£760bn).

The unprecedented deal recommended by the firm’s board, cleared a vote from shareholders at the firm’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

The deal requires Musk, who is already the world’s richest man, to drastically raise the electric car firm’s market value over a period of years. If he meets various targets, he will be rewarded with hundreds of millions of new shares.

The scale of the deal is controversial, but the Tesla board argued that Musk might leave the company if it was not approved – and that it could not afford to lose him.

The pay package was approved by 75% of Tesla shareholders who cast ballots, drawing loud applause from the audience at the AGM in Austin, Texas.

“What we’re about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book,” Musk told the audience when he took the stage to more cheers.

“Other shareholder meetings are snoozefests but ours are bangers. Look at this. This is sick,” Musk said.

The pay package requires Musk to achieve a series of milestones in order to achieve the massive payday.

These include raising Tesla’s market value to $8.5tn from the $1.4tn at time of writing.

He would also need to get a million self-driving “Robotaxi” vehicles into commercial operation.