Elon Musk’s record US$44.9B pay package backed by Tesla shareholders

globalnews.ca:

Tesla shareholders voted Thursday to restore CEO Elon Musk’s record US$44.9 billion pay package that was thrown out by a Delaware judge earlier this year, sending a strong vote of confidence in his leadership of the electric vehicle maker.

The favourable vote doesn’t necessarily mean that Musk will get the all-stock compensation anytime soon. The package is likely to remain tied up in the Delaware Chancery Court and Supreme Court for months as Tesla tries to overturn the Delaware judge’s rejection.

Musk has raised doubts about his future with Tesla this year, writing on X, the social media platform he owns, that he wanted a 25% stake in the company in order to stop him from taking artificial intelligence development elsewhere. The higher stake is needed to control the use of AI, he has said.

Tesla also has struggled with falling sales and profit margins as demand for electric vehicles slows worldwide.

But at the company’s annual meeting Thursday in Austin, Texas, Musk reassured shareholders that he will stick around, telling them he can’t sell any stock in the compensation package for five years.

“It’s not actually cash, and I can’t cut and run, nor would I want to,” he said.

Vote totals on Musk’s pay weren’t immediately announced, but the company said shareholders voted for Musk’s compensation plan, which initially was approved by the board and stockholders six years ago.

Tesla last valued the package at US$44.9 billion in an April regulatory filing. It was once as much as US$56 billion but has declined in value in tandem with Tesla’s stock, which has dropped about 25% so far this year.

Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick ruled in January in a shareholder’s lawsuit that Musk essentially controlled the Tesla board