Elon Musk praised ‘the most amazing shareholder base’ after Tesla investors backed his record-breaking £44 billion pay deal.
Despite opposition from major investors, 77 percent of shareholders supported the largest payout in American history.
Influential proxy advisors Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis opposed the deal and Tesla’s eighth-largest shareholder, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, spoke out against the package.
But after the pay deal was finally approved at the annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, Musk took the stage and said, “I just want to start by saying, damn, I love you guys.” We have the greatest shareholder base of any publicly traded company.”
Critics of the pay deal have raised concerns about Musk’s erratic behavior and ability to commit given his role at other companies, including social media platform X, formerly called Twitter.
Record price: But critics of the pay deal have raised concerns about Elon Musk’s erratic behavior
A Delaware judge quashed the package in January, ruling that it had been improperly determined by the board. The deal was agreed six years ago and linked to performance targets.
But a Delaware judge will now scrutinize the vote and decide whether Musk, 52, improperly influenced the outcome.
Shareholders also agreed to the company moving its legal home from Delaware to Texas.
Musk posted on