Billion-dollar pay “deal” between Elon Musk and Tesla rejected by judge

The billionaire and now close advisor to Donald Trump, the richest man in the world, has once again had his $51 billion payment in Tesla shares rejected by a judge.

These shares, which have almost doubled in value, are now valued at over $100 billion.

Although Tesla approved this payment to Elon Musk, a Delaware judge ruled otherwise, rejecting the gigantic billionaire payment for a second time.

The judge had already rejected the same payment last January.

She then sided with a major shareholder in the lawsuit, who challenged the package, arguing that Musk had failed to prove that the compensation plan was fair.

In this second refusal, the judge pointed out that, although the package had been ratified by a majority of shareholders (over 84%), excluding the shares of Musk and his brother Kimbal, this did not prove that Musk’s colossal remuneration was in the shareholders’ interests.

It found that, despite this ratification, the compensation was not justified.

She therefore asserted that even if the majority of shareholders had approved the plan, this was not enough to justify a remuneration that the judge considered unfair or inappropriate for shareholders, and the legal arguments put forward by the defense were not sufficiently solid.

While Tesla’s Board of Directors argued that it was essential to maintain Musk’s salary package to keep him involved in Tesla’s management, the judge found that the Board was too close to the CEO.

She pointed out that Elon Musk himself acknowledged that he had “negotiated only with himself” his own compensation.

She added that, while Musk was entitled to some compensation, the final reward was not fair to other shareholders.