Key Takeaways
- A Delaware court found Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package, valued at $55.8 billion, to be excessive.
- The decision to reject the pay package could impact Musk’s standing as the richest man.
- Earlier in the month, Musk said he wanted more control of the company before advancing Tesla’s position in artificial intelligence, though the court determined Musk already has a significant influence over the board.
- Wedbush analysts said the ruling could be “a catalyst for the Board to take the situation into its own hands and come up with a new comp package.”
Tesla (TSLA) shares rebounded from earlier losses in intraday trading Wednesday after a Delaware court challenged Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk’s $55.8 billion compensation package, finding it to be excessive.
The Chancery of the State of Delaware, an equity court that resolves disputes involving Delaware corporations, sided with an investor who sued over Musk’s compensation, writing that “the plan is the largest potential compensation opportunity ever observed in public markets by multiple orders of magnitude—250 times larger than the contemporaneous median peer compensation plan and over 33 times larger than the plan’s closest comparison, which was Musk’s prior compensation plan.”
The court’s decision directed the two parties to “confer on a form of final order implementing this decision and submit a joint letter identifying all issues, including fees, that need to be addressed to bring this matter to a conclusion.”
The order, which can be appealed, could take a large chunk of Musk’s wealth. Musk is considered the world’s richest person, with a net worth of $229 billion driven by his stake in Tesla and his ownership of X (formerly Twitter).
The court decision also comes shortly after Musk took to X saying that he wants 25% voting control of the company before advancing Tesla’s position in the artificial intelligence (AI) race. On the company’s recent earnings call, Musk reiterated that he is “aiming for a strong influence, but not control” of Tesla before ramping up AI initiatives.
Wedbush analysts said that the Tesla board could appeal the decision and create a new pay plan that supersedes the one in question to bring to a vote at the next shareholder meeting. The board could even make a new compensation package that would get Musk directly to the 25% voting share that he wants.
The analysts said that Wedbush “ultimately believe[s] this decision will be a catalyst for the Board to take the situation into its own hands and come up with a new comp package,” adding that “this could have a silver lining as the Board could use this as an opportunity to lock Musk into the Tesla story along with a new AI corporate structure over the coming years in a comp structure that gets unveiled in the upcoming proxy.”
Shares of Tesla were 0.1% higher at $191.74 per share as of about 12:50 p.m. ET Wednesday. They’ve gained more than 10% over the past year.