Tesla shareholders voted to pay a record compensation package to the company's founder and CEO Elon Musk in the amount of $56 billion, and also approved the relocation of Tesla's headquarters from Delaware to Texas. On Thursday morning, it became known that shareholders tentatively supported the payment of a record bonus in history American public companies, in the evening the voting results were officially announced during the annual meeting of shareholders. “I just want to start by saying that I fucking love you guys,” Musk said after the results were announced. The package was originally approved in 2018, but after a lawsuit by one of the shareholders, a Delaware court overturned it. Experts say Thursday's vote does not mean Musk will automatically receive the payout because the court may not recognize the shareholders' decision. Tesla's board of directors said Musk deserves such a reward because the company has achieved ambitious goals under his leadership, and the billionaire should have an incentive to remain loyal to Tesla. The plan adopted in 2018 implied that Elon Musk, who does not officially receive a salary from Tesla, would be paid $56 billion as a reward if the company’s capitalization and revenue reached certain indicators (this condition was met). However, one of Tesla's minority shareholders, Richard Tornetta, who owns only nine Tesla shares, demanded through the court to cancel the payment, calling it unreasonable. Objections also arose from larger investors – the Californian pension fund CalSTRS, as well as the State Pension Fund of Norway – Tesla's eighth largest shareholder. The other day, the fund announced that it would vote against paying a bonus to Musk. Earlier this year, Delaware Judge Caitlin McCormick ruled that the plan was flawed and the payout was not fair to shareholders. Tesla called the decision "fundamentally unfair and inconsistent with the will of shareholders." The company put the deal up for a second vote and called for support for Musk's compensation and a plan to re-register Tesla's legal entity outside of Delaware. “Shareholders must ask themselves whether Tesla is better with or without Elon,” said an open letter from Ron Baron, a billionaire investor and Musk supporter. “We at Baron Capital answer this question clearly, loudly and unequivocally: Tesla is better with Elon . Tesla is Elon." Tesla shares rose on Thursday amid reports of a shareholder decision. According to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, it reflects investor confidence and reduces the risk that Musk could leave the company. “If this had gone wrong, a lot of bad things and scenarios could have happened, including starting Musk on a path to no longer being CEO of Tesla,” he said.
