Elon Musk is not entitled to landmark compensation package awarded by Tesla’s board of directors that is potentially worth more than USD 55 billion, a Delaware judge ruled Tuesday.
The ruling by Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick comes more than five years after a shareholder lawsuit targeted Tesla CEO Musk and directors of the company. They were accused of breaching their duties to the maker of electric vehicles and solar panels, resulting in a waste of corporate assets and unjust enrichment for Musk.
‘Compensation Package Should Be Voided’
The shareholder’s lawyers argued that the compensation package should be voided because it was dictated by Musk and was the product of sham negotiations with directors who were not independent of him. They also said it was approved by shareholders who were given misleading and incomplete disclosures in a proxy statement.
Musk’s Counter
Defense attorneys countered that the pay plan was fairly negotiated by a compensation committee whose members were independent, contained performance milestones so lofty that they were ridiculed by some Wall Street investors, and blessed by a shareholder vote that was not even required under Delaware law. They also argued that Musk was not a controlling shareholder because he owned less than one-third of the company at the time.
Musk reacted to the ruling on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that he owns, by offering business advice.
“Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware,” he said.
He later added, “I recommend incorporating in Nevada or Texas if you prefer shareholders to decide matters.” Musk, who as of Tuesday topped Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people, had earlier this month challenged Tesla’s board to come up with a new compensation plan for him that would give him a 25 per cent stake in the company.
On an earnings call last week, Musk, who currently holds 13 per cent, explained that with a 25 per cent stake, he can’t control the company, yet he would have strong influence.
Background
In trial testimony in November 2022, Musk denied that he dictated the terms of the compensation package or attended any meetings at which the board discussed the plan, its compensation committee, or a working group that helped develop it.
McCormick determined, however, that because Musk was a controlling shareholder with a potential conflict of interest, the pay package must be subject to a more rigorous standard.
“The process leading to the approval of Musk’s compensation plan was deeply flawed,” McCormick wrote in the colourfully written 200-page decision. “Musk had extensive ties with the persons tasked with negotiating on Tesla’s behalf.”
‘Personal Relationships With Compensation Committee’
McCormick specifically cited Musk’s long business and personal relationships with compensation committee chairman Ira Ehrenpreis and fellow committee member Antonio Gracias. She also noted that the working group working on the pay package included general counsel Todd Maron who was Musk’s former divorce attorney.
“In fact, Maron was a primary go-between Musk and the committee, and it is unclear on whose side Maron viewed himself,” the judge wrote. “Yet many of the documents cited by the defendants as proof of a fair process were drafted by Maron.”
McCormick concluded that the only suitable remedy was for Musk’s compensation package to be rescinded.
“In the final analysis, Musk launched a self-driving process, recalibrating the speed and direction along the way as he saw fit,” she wrote. “The process arrived at an unfair price. And through this litigation, the plaintiff requests a recall.” Greg Varallo, a lead attorney for the shareholder plaintiff, praised McCormick’s decision to reverse the “absurdly outsized” Musk pay package.
“The fact that they lost this in Delaware court, it’s a jaw dropper,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. “It’s unprecedented, a ruling like this. I think going in investors thought it was just typical legal noise and nothing was going to come out about it. The fact that they went head to head with Tesla and Musk and the board and voided this, it’s a huge legal decision.”
During his trial testimony, Musk downplayed the notion that his friendships with certain Tesla board members, including sometimes vacationing together, meant that they were likely to do his bidding.
The plan called for Musk to reap billions if Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, hit certain market capitalization and operational milestones.
For each incidence of simultaneously meeting a market cap milestone and an operational milestone, Musk, who owned about 22 per cent of Tesla when the plan was approved, would get stock equal to 1 per cent of outstanding shares at the time of the grant.
His interest in the company would grow to about 28 per cent if the company’s market capitalization grew by USD 600 billion.
Each milestone included growing Tesla’s market capitalization by USD 50 billion and meeting aggressive revenue and pretax profit growth targets. Musk stood to receive the full benefit of the pay plan, USD 55.8 billion, only by leading Tesla to a market capitalization of USD 650 billion and unprecedented revenues and earnings within a decade.
Tesla has achieved all twelve market capitalization milestones and eleven operational milestones, providing Musk nearly USD 28 billion in stock option gains, according to a January post-trial brief filed by the plaintiff’s attorneys. The stock option grants are subject to a five-year holding period, however.
(With agency inputs)
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