Tesla shareholders vote to give Elon Musk a $56 billion pay package after a court shot it down

Tesla shareholders approved Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package on Thursday during its annual shareholders meeting.

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The results were met by cheers from the shareholders who were in attendance.

In 2018, Tesla agreed to pay Musk the multi-billion dollar performance-based payout provided that the company was worth $56 billion in a 10-year period. However, a Tesla shareholder filed a lawsuit against the company over the enormous payout and a Delaware court ruled against Musk, throwing out the payment package plan in January.

What happened to Elon Musk’s pay in January?

Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick found that Tesla’s board of directors basically just agreed to Musk’s own proposal regarding his pay, “the largest potential compensation plan in the history of public markets,” and violated their obligations to Tesla’s shareholders in the process.

Furthermore, McCormick also found that shareholders had been misinformed and mislead regarding a number of factors around Musk’s pay package.

This substantial compensation package might have still stood if Tesla’s board could prove it was fair, or alternatively that most of the minority shareholders were “fully informed” when they approved it. However, the court also found that not only had shareholders not been fully informed, they had actually been misinformed about key factors in the decision making process.

Musk lashed out at the decision at the time.

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“Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware,” Musk posted on X in January following the Delaware court shooting down his pay package. “I recommend incorporating in Nevada or Texas if you prefer shareholders to decide matters.”

Tesla shareholders also approved the redomestication of Tesla from Delaware to Texas at the meeting.

A vote of confidence amid Tesla’s tumult

Tesla has had a difficult 2024. The company had to issue a recall and production halt for its new Cybertruck after a design flaw was discovered which resulted in some drivers’ acceleration pedals getting stuck while accelerating. In addition, facing a slow down in EV car sales and poor quarterly results, Tesla laid off roughly 10 percent of its entire workforce.

The day before the annual shareholders meeting, where voting will continue on shareholder resolutions, including Musk’s pay package, Musk claimed on X that voting was already going in his favor.