Tesla persists. The American car manufacturer will once again submit to its shareholders, at its next general meeting in June, the enormous remuneration plan of its boss Elon Musk, which a judge in Delaware had canceled at the end of January.
“The board supports this compensation plan. We believed in it in 2018, asking Elon to pursue remarkable goals to grow the company. You, as shareholders, also believed in it in 2018 when you overwhelmingly approved it. Time and results have only demonstrated the wisdom of our judgment,” argued the board of directors of the American automaker in preparatory documents published Wednesday.
VIDEO. $56 billion: Elon Musk's astronomical salary canceled by a judge
This is a new twist in a long-standing conflict on this plan, authorized by the board of directors of the car manufacturer in 2018. It planned to give Elon Musk Tesla shares based on the achievement of several objectives out of ten years. It was estimated at $56 billion when it was adopted. A staggering amount far from pleasing all shareholders. At the end of January, a judge in a court in the state of Delaware, in the eastern United States, ruled in favor of one of them, who demanded the cancellation of the plan.
“Appropriate incentives”
The judge considered that the shareholders had received “erroneous” and “misleading” information about the board of directors and the remuneration committee, ahead of the general meeting during which the plan was approved.
A judgment that the Tesla board of directors regrets. In the preparatory documents published Wednesday, the latter writes in particular that the company “would not be where it is today without the contributions, leadership and vision of Elon Musk”.
"We believe this requires a compensation plan that recognizes Elon Musk's unique role and, more importantly, provides appropriate incentives so that Elon Musk not only stays at Tesla and dedicates time to his activities and to its business, but also continues to bring the level of dedication to the business that we believe is crucial to achieving the ambition we have to grow the business over the long term,” the board continues.