It looks like Tesla shareholders are backing CEO Elon Musk's push for it higher pay package in corporate American history.
A day before any official announcement from Tesla, Musk common that the resolution to approve his pay package, worth up to $56 billion, and the resolution to move Tesla's legal home from Delaware to Texas both “passed by wide margins.”
Musk posted charts showing that both issues had received more votes than needed for a “guaranteed win.”
Tesla stock has grown up after the news.
Both Tesla shareholder resolutions are currently passing by wide margins!
♥️♥️ Thank you for your support!! ♥️♥️ pic.twitter.com/udf56VGQdo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 13, 2024
Shareholders are voting on the pay package they initially approved 2018which a Delaware judges upside down earlier this year and called it “a reckless amount”.
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The legalities of Musk's pay package are uncertain even if shareholders approve it again and Tesla moves its legal home from Delaware to Texas.
“Even if shareholders approve the old package, it's not clear that the Delaware court will allow the vote to be effective,” said UC Berkeley law professor Adam Badawi. Reuters.
Musk's pay packet would put him well ahead of even the highest-paid CEOs in the US June study by AP, the current top earner is Broadcom's Hock E. Tan with total compensation of $162 million. Apple's Tim Cook earns about $63 million, for the same list.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
A Wednesday STATEMENT from CalPERS, which owns 9.2 million Tesla shares as of June 7, notes that the proposed pay package is almost 140 times higher than the annual pay of other high-performing CEOs.
Musk's compensation would be “excessive” compared to his peers and “very dilutive” from a shareholder perspective, CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost said.
CalPERS also pointed out that the salary package is more than Tesla's net income of $33.8 billion over the last four years (2020-2023).
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However, for shareholders who voted in favor of the pay package, it may not be about the money.
Tesla's chairman of the board of directors, Robyn Denholm has written in a letter to shareholders last week that Musk's pay package “is obviously not about the money” and is actually about “keeping Elon's attention and his motivation.”
The letter caused worry before the meeting that Musk could leave Tesla if his compensation was not approved.
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Voting closes at 5:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, and the final tallies will be officially announced at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting, which begins at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.