Tech billionaire Elon Musk received a salary bonus worth billions from Tesla in 2018. The payment has now been blocked by a judge. The amount transferred has now risen to more than $100 billion.
Despite the support of Tesla shareholders, a court continues to oppose an agreed salary for CEO Elon Musk worth billions. A judge in the American state of Delaware on Monday upheld her decision in January that the company boss had too much influence in the background when agreeing on the share allocation plan in 2018.
New billions for Musk
The compensation plan was originally intended to have a total value of $2.6 billion, but due to the sharp increase in Tesla’s stock price, this had increased to $56 billion by the time of the original decision. Based on Monday’s closing price, the value would be more than $100 billion.
The judge concluded earlier this year that Musk had close relationships with members of Tesla’s board of directors with whom he negotiated the generous compensation.
The judge stands by her judgment
However, shareholders remained in the dark about the involvement before the first vote. This meant that they had not had the opportunity to make a well-considered decision, the judge explained her decision at the time.
She therefore supported the plaintiff, who wants to terminate the agreement with Musk. In June, Tesla shareholders reapproved the huge share package, but the judge on Monday still stood by her initial ruling.
Tesla stated on Musk’s online service X that the company would appeal. “Shareholders should control the votes of companies, not the judges,” Musk himself explained.
Emboldened by Trump’s victory
Tesla shares fell more than two percent to around $349 in U.S. after-hours trading on Monday. Earlier this year, when the judge made her first decision, the papers had cost less than $200. Tesla shares had recently benefited from Musk’s closeness to newly elected US President Donald Trump.
Investors are committed, among other things, to creating a government framework for fully self-driving vehicles, which could also benefit Tesla’s robotaxi. As a result of the price increases, Tesla’s market value rose again to more than $1.1 trillion.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
