Elon Musk defends $56 billion pay package in court: Report
Elon Musk testified in a Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom on Wednesday, defending the $56 billion pay package he receives from Tesla.
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Elon Musk defended his $56 billion pay package in a Wilmington, Delaware, court on Wednesday, according to reports.
Musk took the stand earlier in the day and was questioned by attorney Greg Varallo, who represents the Tesla shareholder who claims Musk’s compensation package was obtained by his dominance of the company and does not require him to work full-time at the vehicle manufacturing plant, Reuters reported.
SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 13, 2019. (Reuters/Mike Blake / Reuters Photos)
Musk said things like, "I pretty much work all the time," and "I don’t know what a punch clock would achieve," as he disagreed that he should have to spend a certain number of hours working to get paid.
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He also dismissed claims while Varallo examined him that the goals associated with obtaining his hefty pay package were easily achievable.
"The amount of pain, no words can express," Musk said. "It’s pain I would not wish to inflict upon anyone."
Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk stands in front of the newly unveiled all-electric battery-powered Tesla's Cybertruck at Tesla Design Center in Hawthorne, California on November 21, 2019. (Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick is the judge overseeing the trial. She is the same judge who forced Musk to purchase Twitter for $44 billion when he tried to back out of his agreement to buy the social media platform.
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Varallo told the court that his client wished to have the court object to Musk’s pay package, which was "$20 billion larger than the annual gross domestic product of the state of Delaware."
But for Musk to obtain any of that money, the company must reach a set of goals that drove the stock value of Tesla from $50 billion to over $600 billion.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Reuters/Michele Tantussi / Reuters Photos)
Varallo also attempted to prove Musk established the pay package for himself from the beginning, despite arguments it was put together with shareholder input and independent board members.
When Musk stepped down from the stand, a friend of his and venture capitalist by the name of Antonia Gracias followed in his place.
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During Gracias’ testimony, it was revealed Musk can purchase 1% of Tesla’s stock at a "deeply discounted" rate whenever the financial goals are met. If the goals are not met, he does not get a dime.
On a motion to dismiss the case, the court ruled to have it continue because Musk might be a controlling stakeholder of Tesla.