If you’d like to earn $56 billion, a good place to start is to buy your way into an upstart EV manufacturer and then make as much noise as possible. Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently got an even bigger chunk of the company as shareholders approved his controversial pay package, which will make him one of the highest-paid corporate leaders in history.
The package has been litigated on and off for a few years now but was approved by shareholders earlier this week. Texas governor Greg Abbott congratulated Musk on the “achievement,” giving him props for “getting the pay you were promised and on your new incorporation in Texas.”
Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk, thanked shareholders for the positive vote and noted that the company can “now focus on building a great business and accelerating the world towards alternative energy. The distractions from Delaware, violating shareholder rights and canceling arms length contracts, is over. Goodbye, Delaware. You will not be missed.”
While corporate boards should be independent and on top of governance issues, Tesla’s board placed ads to support Musk’s bid for a massive pay package. Many shareholders voted against the motion, but the prospect of the CEO leaving the company he has so famously become associated with was enough to push the vote into the “yes” column.
[Images: Tesla]
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