New Delhi, Dec 20 The Delaware Supreme Court in the US has restored Elon Musk’s 2018 pay package from Tesla, overturning a lower‑court decision that had struck it down as “unfathomable”.
The ruling reverses a 2024 decision that rescinded the package and found that total rescission “leaves Musk uncompensated for his time and efforts over a period of six years,” the 49‑page ruling said, according to multiple media reports.
The erstwhile ruling had reportedly damaged Delaware's business-friendly reputation, and the new ruling assured Musk greater control over the company, alleviating his main concern, even after shareholders recently approved a new pay package that could be worth $878 billion if Tesla meets certain targets.
The 2018 package is now worth about $139 billion based on Tesla’s closing stock price on Friday, and if Musk exercises all stock options from the pay package, his stake would rise from about 12.4 per cent to 18.1 per cent of an expanded share base.
Musk posted on social media platform X that he was “vindicated,” while lawyers who challenged the pay package were cited as saying they were considering next steps and were proud "calling to account the Tesla board and its largest stockholder for their breaches of fiduciary duty.”
The 2018 pay deal provided Musk options to buy about 304 million shares at a discounted price if Tesla met specific milestones. Tesla's board had warned that Musk, the world's richest person, leading the SpaceX rocket venture, could leave the electric car company if his pay was disrupted.
He had recently defended the H-1B visa programme, saying that the US economy has benefited immensely from Indian immigrants.
Musk said that America needs high-skill workers from India now more than ever, while also calling out the misuse of the visa system by some outsourcing firms. Musk said America has been an immense beneficiary of talent from India, adding that his companies constantly struggle to fill specialised roles because there is always a scarcity of talented people.
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