Elon Musk had asked Tesla investors to approve a legal move of the company to Texas. Photo / New York Times
Tesla shareholders have voted in favour of a US$44.9 billion ($72.7b) pay package for chief executive Elon Musk.
Shareholders this morning also approved a measure to move Tesla’s legal home from Delaware to Texas.
Musk’s 2018 pay package was nullified in January.
Tesla then relied on a legal principle known as “ratification”, when a shareholder vote can cement the validity of a corporate action.
New Zealanders were among those voting on the compensation issue.
A Sharesies spokeswoman told the Herald about 50,000 of its users own Tesla shares with a total value around $120 million.
The results relating to Musk’s pay and the Texas move were announced at Tesla’s annual meeting in Austin this morning, New Zealand time.
According to Barron’s financial news, Musk responded to the vote by saying: “Hot damn, I love you guys”.
Vote totals weren’t immediately announced at Tesla’s annual stockholders’ meeting, but the company said they voted for Musk’s compensation plan, which initially was approved by the board and stockholders six years ago.
Tesla last valued the package at $44.9b ($72.7b) in an April regulatory filing. It was once as much as $56b ($90.8b) but has declined in value in tandem with Tesla’s stock, which has dropped about 40 per cent in the last 12 months.
A Delaware judge in January struck down the pay package.
John Lawrence, a Dallas-based lawyer with Baker Botts who defends corporations against shareholder lawsuits, said the vote did not end the legal dispute and automatically give Musk the stock options. But he said it gave Tesla a strong argument to get the ruling overturned.
Shareholders also approved the re-election of two board members: Musk’s brother Kimbal Musk and James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Tesla shares rose ahead of the official results announcement after Musk said on social media that the pay plan was passing by a wide margin, The New York Times reported.
- Reporting by The New Zealand Herald and David Hamilton of The Associated Press
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