Musk’s Legal Battle Over $56 Billion Tesla Compensation Enters Final Showdown

Musk’s Legal Battle Over $56 Billion Tesla Compensation Enters Final Showdown
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during the official opening of the new Tesla electric car manufacturing plant near Gruenheide, Germany, on March 22, 2022. Christian Marquardt/Getty Images
Mary Prenon
Mary Prenon
Freelance Reporter
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Attorneys for Elon Musk were appealing to the Delaware Supreme Court on Oct. 15 to reinstate the billionaire entrepreneur’s $56 billion pay package from Tesla. The almost two-year litigation, brought by some company stockholders, is expected to be finalized, following a lower court’s decision to rescind this record-breaking compensation.

In January 2024, Delaware’s Court of Chancery ruled that Tesla’s board of directors lacked independence from Musk when it gave the green light to the pay package in 2018, and that shareholders were also not privy to key information when they voted in favor of it. The judge found the compensation package to be unfair to investors.

Mary Prenon
Mary Prenon
Freelance Reporter
Mary T. Prenon covers real estate and business. She has been a writer and reporter for over 25 years with various print and broadcast media in New York.