Tesla Inc. and CEO Elon Musk are fighting back against institutional investors who voiced opposition to Musk’s $58 billion compensation package from 2018.
Investors Business Daily Reports Electric-car giant Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk are locked in a fierce battle with institutional investors over Musk’s 2018 compensation package, now valued at about $45 billion. The compensation agreement has come under scrutiny after a Delaware court ruled earlier this year that the plan was invalid as excessive and unfair to Tesla investors.
Tesla fired back in a detailed letter to shareholders after a proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, said the compensation agreement was “excessive” and “dilutive” to current shareholders. The company argued that Glass Lewis “omitted important considerations, used flawed logic, and relied on speculation and assumptions.” Tesla argued that Musk’s leadership has increased shareholder market value by more than $735 billion in less than six years.
Musk himself aired his frustrations on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), blaming the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) for voting against the compensation package. “Shame on them, they have no honor,” Musk wrote, accusing the nation’s largest public pension fund of breaking the agreement. He also called shareholders who approved the package in 2018 but are now voting against it “coast breakers.”
Tesla is trying to rally support from retail investors, who currently own about 30% of the company. Tesla’s board, led by Chairman Robin Denholm, will be traveling around the world in the coming weeks to gather shareholder support ahead of the company’s annual general meeting on June 13.
Tesla’s dismal financial performance for the first quarter of 2024 is seen as a sign of weakness in the electric vehicle market overall.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship.
