Musk says shareholders OK his pay package
NEW YORK (AFP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk said late Wednesday that the electric vehicle company’s shareholders were voting to approve his multibillion-dollar pay package by “wide margins” before the ballot had been concluded.
The firm has campaigned to convince shareholders to approve Musk’s giant compensation package — worth as much as $56 billion — ahead of Tesla’s annual shareholders meeting, which is slated for Thursday afternoon.
“Both Tesla shareholder resolutions are currently passing by wide margins!” Musk wrote on his social media platform X, referring to the resolutions to approve his pay package as well as a plan to shift Tesla’s place of incorporation from Delaware to Texas.
Before the end of voting Wednesday, Tesla said on a website for its annual meeting that the “future value we are poised to deliver for you is at risk,” adding: “We need your vote NOW to protect Tesla and your investment.”
In an effort to coax more shareholder participation, Tesla launched a sweepstakes of sorts where 15 investors who voted would be randomly picked for a tour of Tesla’s plant in Austin, Texas, personally led by Musk and vehicle designer Franz von Holzhausen.
Winners would also get choice seats for Tesla’s annual meeting, to be held Thursday afternoon in Austin.
The company has employed the Musk-owned social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to publicize the effort.
Shareholders overwhelmingly backed the Musk compensation plan in March 2018, but it was struck down by a Delaware judge in January. This year’s vote was expected to be closer than the 2018 referendum after influential advisory firms Investor Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis came out against the windfall, with ISS dismissing the proposal as “excessive.”
In April, Tesla revived the package, with Chair Robyn Denholm imploring investors to “fix this issue” after the Delaware ruling.
“Tesla has been one of the most successful enterprises of our time. In just the past six years, we created more than $735 billion in value,” Denholm said in a letter to shareholders.