Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm has defended her decision to award Elon Musk $1 trillion in stock options, saying he is a unique CEO who must have worked incredibly hard and achieved "seemingly impossible goals" to earn the historic reward.

Denholm said in an interview: "To achieve the vision and goals we have set, he must invest an extraordinary amount of time, energy and effort. This is definitely not an easy task. This is an extremely ambitious plan... If he can complete it, he will be entitled to unprecedented rewards."

Denholm also defended the board's hands-off approach to Musk's controversial political stance, emphasizing that he enjoys freedom of speech and possesses unique qualities that Tesla needs.