Dive Brief:
- Tesla shareholders approved CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package by a wide margin during the electric vehicle maker's annual meeting on Thursday in Austin, Texas, according to a securities filing.
- The “CEO Performance Award” would allow Musk several opportunities to vest stock options over the course of 10 years, according to Tesla’s 2024 proxy statement.
- The vote results saw 72% of shareholders in favor of awarding the performance-based stock option, excluding the votes of shares owned directly or indirectly by Musk or his brother, Kimbal Musk.
Dive Insight:
The largest corporate pay package in U.S. history was originally approved by 73% of Tesla shareholders in 2018, but a Delaware judge rescinded it in January, prompting the latest vote.
However, several shareholders voiced concerns about the ratification of the package ahead of the annual meeting, citing the company’s “floundering performance” and Musk’s diverted attention.
In a post on his social media platform X, Musk said in January he would be “uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control.” He currently owns about 20.5% of Tesla as the company’s largest shareholder, according to its most recent annual report.
Now, Tesla will fight to get Musk those additional shares, as the lawsuit in Delaware is not expected to be resolved for months, according to Reuters.
Musk was in high spirits Thursday, however, taking the stage and saying, “Hot damn, I love you guys.”
The CEO spoke at length about the company’s ambitions, from monetizing an autonomous fleet to having over 1,000 humanoid robots working at Tesla.
“Admittedly, I’m a little optimistic sometimes,” Musk said. “I don’t have [a] complete lack of self awareness. But if I wasn’t optimistic, this wouldn’t exist — this factory wouldn’t exist.”
Musk added that Tesla is “not just opening a new chapter,” but rather “starting a new book.”
