ALBAWABA - Five months after a Delaware court ordered Tesla to revoke CEO Elon Musk's massive 2018 compensation plan of $56 billion, citing illegitimate board approval, shareholders of the firm voted on Thursday to finally approve it.
Following the court ruling in Delaware last January that Musk had unlawfully influenced the process, many had been urging on social media for weeks to have the pay of the celebrity billionaire CEO returned after the judge had ruled that Musk had improperly managed the process.
Although the vote in favor of the pay plan does not overturn the decision of the court, it does constitute a public relations triumph for Musk and may be of use to him in his efforts to convince a court in the near future to grant him his performance incentives, according to CNBC.
“We have the most awesome shareholder base,” Musk said at the shareholder event after the vote thanking his supporters, as reported by Reuters, he addressed the hyped crowd at Tesla factory in Austin, Texas, saying “hot damn, I love you guys,” adding that the pay “is not actually cash, and I can’t cut and run, nor would I want to,” affirming his commitment to Tesla.
Kristin Hull, founder and chief investment officer of Nia Impact Capital, said according to The New York Times “it’s a higher pay package than we have seen in the United States and I don’t think it sets a good precedent,” in response to the vote.
