Tesla shareholders approve Elon Musk’s $56 billion salary package | Business News

Tesla shareholders have approved Elon Musk’s $56 billion (£44 billion) pay package.

The proposal was approved despite opposition from some large institutional investors and proxy companies.

On stage at the annual shareholders meeting in Austin, Texasthe billionaire described himself as “pathologically optimistic”.

“If I weren’t optimistic, this wouldn’t exist, this factory wouldn’t exist,” Musk he said to resounding applause.

“But in the end I deliver. That’s what matters.”

The approval, however, does not resolve a lawsuit over the salary package in a Delaware court, which some legal experts believe could last months.

The judge invalidated it in Januarydescribing it as “unfathomable”.

Musk could also face new lawsuits over the deal, which would be the largest in American corporate history.

Shareholders first approved the bumper pay package in 2018.

“This is not over,” said Brian Quinn, a professor at Boston College Law School.

The Delaware judge will review the vote and require Tesla to prove that the process was not coerced or unduly influenced by Musk, Professor Quinn said.

The judge criticized Tesla’s board for being “beholden” to Musk, saying the plan was proposed by a “conflicted board” with “close personal and financial ties” to its chief executive.

Shareholders also approved a proposal to move the company’s legal headquarters from Delaware to Texas.

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They also supported other proposals, including the re-election of two board members, Musk’s brother Kimbal Musk and James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Shareholders increased the level of investor control by approving proposals in favor of reducing board terms to one year and reducing voting requirements for proposals to a simple majority, despite board opposition to both.

Tesla has not released the vote count, which is expected to be revealed in the coming days.

At least half a million viewers watched the meeting live on X, which Musk also owns, and about 40,000 watched on YouTube.

Tesla’s share price is down about 55% from its 2021 peak as electric vehicle sales slow.

Shares closed up 2.9% on Thursday.