Salary row: Billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk
Tesla has asked shareholders to approve a £45bn pay deal for billionaire Elon Musk, just months after the package was struck down in court.
The payday, decided in 2018, would be the largest in American corporate history.
But in a setback for Musk, 52, Judge Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery said he controlled the board through his personality and influence, meaning his package could not be decided through a fair process. .
“Musk was the paradigmatic ‘superstar CEO’ and dominated the process that led to board approval,” McCormick wrote in his decision.
Musk also had “extensive ties” to officials negotiating the pay settlement, he said. Tesla has now asked investors to back the deal anyway.
“We do not agree with what the Delaware Court decided, and we do not believe that what the Delaware Court said is how corporate law should or does work,” Chairman Robyn Denholm wrote in a regulatory filing. “If legally advisable, we suggest putting the original 2018 package to a new shareholder vote.”
The filing also urged investors to approve Tesla’s decision to move the company’s incorporation status from Delaware to Texas.
Disgruntled shareholder Richard Tornetta filed a lawsuit against Tesla and its directors, alleging that Musk’s salary was unfair.
It sets rewards based on Tesla’s market value, as Musk, worth an estimated £143 billion, does not receive a salary. The directors argued that the goal was to keep Musk incentivized while he juggles his other companies, including X, formerly Twitter, and satellite company Space X.
However, the drama comes at a testing time for Tesla, which this week laid off 10% of its workforce amid supply problems and slowing demand.