Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and the CEO of the automotive company, Tesla, faced a compensation package of $56 billion rejection once again by a Delaware judge. Earlier, Musk’s pay package was rejected in the following year, in January.
Now the situation is that Musk has no access to this pay deal. Even then, it cannot displace Elon Musk from the “World’s Richest Person” rank. Delaware court demonstrated its decision as unfair and excessive despite the approval of all the Tesla shareholders. In response to it, Tesla's board decided to appeal the ruling and fought for Musk's salary.
Pay Package Rejection Infuriated Musk
Elon Musk requires no introduction. He is the CEO of the giant automotive company and ranked as the World’s Richest Person in the World, with a net worth of approximately $336.8 billion in 2025. On Monday, a Delaware court judge, Kathaleen St. J. McCormick, rejected his pay deal of $56 billion once again. You must remember that earlier, it was rejected in January, despite Tesla’s shareholders' consent.
However, when digging more into the matter, resources revealed that the pay package rejection deal was born in 2018 owing to Tesla’s stock price increase and several performance achievements. However, the value was increased to almost double when the time of action came for rejection or acceptance.
The court’s decision angered Elon Musk more than the time it was first blocked. He shared his anger and sadness on social media platform X, labelling the ruling as absolute corruption. Elon Musk transferred his company out of Delaware. He believed that there are shareholders who make the decisions and not the arbitrators. That’s the reason Tesla CEO Elon Musk decided to fight for his salary.
Judge Viewpoint
To flip the coin’s other side, Judge McCormick claimed that the pay deal was nothing but the biggest compensation plan ever. In addition, the judges who approved the deal were under the influence of Musk. Following the pathway, the Delaware judge glued to her decision without bothering that 75% of Tesla shareholders were in Musk’s favour and the paying deal.
She declared that Musk was not capable of having a large payout amount. In addition, a Delaware court judge asked Tesla to pay additional legal fees of 345 million dollars to Tornetta’s lawyers from the firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann.
Tesla Appeal Decision Against Delaware Supreme Court
Tesla's board and shareholders announced that they would appeal against the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision. They were of the opinion that judges and lawyers must not have the authority to control Tesla other than its shareholders.
Furthermore, it must be the decision of the workers working in the company and not the plaintiffs and legal bodies. Elon Musk stated that he conveyed his message regarding the need for stakes in Tesla for control over the electric car maker and expansion in artificial intelligence.