Updated February 1, 2024, 04:50 am EST
Top line
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Thursday he will hold a shareholder vote to move the electric automaker's corporate status to Texas, publicly lashing out at Delaware over a court ruling that overturned the billionaire's massive $55.8 million. Billion pay package.
Key facts
In a post on X, Kasturi said Tesla “will move immediately” to hold the vote, but did not give an exact date.
Musk Quoted A poll on his X account said the reason behind the decision was that the “public vote” was “unequivocally in favor of Texas.”
An unscientific poll asking Musk's followers whether the company should change its Texas-affiliated status received more than 1.1 million votes, with 87% voting “yes.”
Main background
Earlier this week, a Delaware judge Vacuumed Musk received a $55.8 billion pay package from Tesla in a lawsuit brought by a shareholder. The plaintiff argued that the huge pay package was unfair to shareholders and that the company's board had breached its fiduciary duty by approving it. In her ruling, Delaware Judge Kathleen McCormick pointed to Musk's close ties to the board of directors who “negotiate” the pay package on Tesla's behalf. The ruling would require Tesla's board to come up with a new compensation plan for Musk unless the company appeals. Musk lashed out at Delaware, Tweeting: “Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware.” Companies routinely choose Delaware as their state of incorporation, despite operating elsewhere because of tax incentives and corporate-friendly laws.
Tangent
This isn't the first time Musk has relied on the X poll to make an important business decision. After buying X, formerly known as Twitter, the billionaire has repeatedly turned to unscientific polls on the platform to make key policy decisions. In late 2022, the billionaire reinstated former President Donald Trump's account after the vote on X. Later that year, Musk used another poll to ask followers whether he should step down as CEO of the social media company, which resulted in a majority voting in favor. Musk pitches them as the democratization of critical decisions, X's unscientific polls prone to brigadaging or manipulation by bots or fake accounts. The billionaire himself has mentioned these issues when the results of these votes were not in his favour.
Forbes rating
According to our estimate, Musk's current net worth is $182.6 billion, making him the second richest person in the world on the Forbes Realtime Billionaires list. After the Delaware ruling, the billionaire handed the title of world's richest man to LVMH CEO Bernard Arnold on Wednesday.
read more
Elon Musk No Longer World's Richest After Judge Loses $51 Billion Pay Package (Forbes)
Tesla doesn't pay judge Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package (Forbes)
Follow me Twitter. Please send me a safe tip.
