Key Points Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm asked shareholders to vote for CEO Elon Musk's nearly $1 trillion pay package. Denholm said Musk was key to the future of the EV maker as it focuses more on Full Self Driving and Optimus. Proxy advisor ISS and other groups have recently opposed Musk's pay package, which would give him more than 423 million additional shares. In this article Shareholders must vote to pay Tesla CEO Elon Musk almost $1 trillion, or he might not stay, Board Chair Robyn Denholm warned in a letter Monday. "Without Elon, Tesla could lose significant value, as our company may no longer be valued for what we aim to become," Denholm wrote ahead of Tesla's annual meeting on Nov. 6. The shareholder vote for Musk's pay and other proposals closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 5. Musk is key to the future of the EV maker as it moves beyond being "just another car company," with a bigger focus on Full Self Driving and Optimus, Denholm argued. Several groups have publicly opposed the pay package in recent days, with Institutional Shareholder Services, the biggest proxy advisory firm in the world, recommending against its "astronomical" value. Last week, a group of unions and corporate watchdogs launched the Take Back Tesla website to oppose the pay package, noting Musk's embracing of right-wing political movements and amplifying of conspiracy theories that have damaged the brand. Musk lashed out at proxy firms as "corporate terrorists" on a post-earnings call with analysts last week. Denholm told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday that the company is at an "important inflection point" with artificial intelligence at the forefront. "The opportunity for Tesla in the future, given this AI focus and attention and the unique capabilities that we have as an organization, and that Elon brings to us, really does mean that the opportunity for the company ahead of us is significant," she said. Read more CNBC tech news