The compensation plan, which was originally approved in 2018, was overturned by a US court in January.
The new vote does not mean that Musk will automatically receive the share package. But it does improve his chances of getting it. Shareholders also voted to move Tesla’s registered office from the US state of Delaware to Texas, as the company announced at its annual general meeting on Thursday.
In the first vote in 2018, the share package received a majority of 73 percent. But then a shareholder filed suit against it – and in the end a judge in Delaware torpedoed the plan.
She concluded that Musk had too much influence behind the scenes in the negotiations over the generous compensation of the Tesla board of directors to be able to speak of a fair process. Since the shareholders were kept in the dark about the entanglements, they had no opportunity to make a well-considered decision, the judge argued.
- Read more: Why one in ten Tesla employees has to leave
At the time, Musk was granted the right to receive a good 300 million Tesla shares at the 2018 price in small instalments if the company met some ambitious goals over a period of up to ten years.
Among other things, the market value was to rise from a good 50 billion dollars to 650 billion dollars. Based on this target, the value of the package was once estimated at around 56 billion dollars. But share prices fluctuate.
Demand cooled
After rapid growth and thanks to the electric car euphoria at the time, Tesla quickly reached the mark and was at times even worth more than a trillion dollars – and Musk’s compensation package was around 100 billion dollars. In the meantime, demand has cooled noticeably and Tesla is now worth around 580 billion dollars on the stock market.
In recent months, Musk had suggested that he could push forward the development of artificial intelligence applications elsewhere if he did not gain more control of Tesla. This triggered a new investor lawsuit in Delaware on Thursday.
Should change Cybertruck for Europe
According to company boss Elon Musk, Tesla will first have to redesign its electric pickup truck Cybertruck in order to be able to sell it in Europe. This will only make sense when production numbers are higher, Musk said at Tesla’s annual general meeting after a shareholder question. It is possible that the vehicle will be certified for other countries “sometime next year”.
- Also read: Tesla’s Cybertruck: An April Fool’s joke turns serious
The Cybertruck was adapted to the specifications in North America, Musk emphasized. Observing the international requirements would have brought additional restrictions – “and that would have made the product worse, frankly.”
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Image: (APA/AFP/PATRICK T. FALLON)
Source: Nachrichten
