A Delaware judge ruled that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not entitled to receive a $56 billion compensation package, despite a shareholders vote in June to reinstate it, Reuters reports.
Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery upheld her earlier decision from January, which had deemed the pay package excessive and rescinded it. McCormick ruled that the board’s attempt to “reset” the package was invalid and that the vote could not be used to revise the judgment, as it occurred after the trial. She also found that Tesla had misrepresented details in its proxy statement. McCormick ordered Tesla to pay $345 million in attorney fees to the plaintiffs, though much less than the $6 billion initially requested.
Musk criticized the decision, asserting that shareholders should control company decisions, not judges. The package, originally valued at $56 billion, has since increased in value to about $101 billion due to Tesla’s recent stock surge. Tesla’s stock fell 1.4% following the decision.
