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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is already a billionaire, but could be getting billions more soon. Tesla shareholders voted to approve Musk's staggering $56 billion pay package and move the company's incorporation from Delaware to Texas. If the payout is finalized, Musk's would be the largest ever received in US history, Reuters reports.
There's still an ongoing lawsuit in Delaware on the topic of Musk's pay between him and Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta, however. The judge presiding over the lawsuit rejected Musk's pay package back in January, calling it "deeply flawed."
In response, Musk has criticized Delaware and is looking to move Tesla's incorporation to Texas. Musk previously asked users on Twitter/X, which he owns, to respond to a random poll on whether Tesla should do that. Over 87% of the 1.1 million votes pick "Yes" and just under 13% voted "No." Now, shareholders have echoed that sentiment.
Not all of Tesla's shareholders support Musk's massive pay package, even though a majority approved it. Reuters previously reported that a handful of different investment firms and two California state retirement systems are against the multibillion-dollar payout.
Last week, Tesla's board asked shareholders to approve the pay package, suggesting that Musk might leave his role at Tesla or not focus on the EV firm if he doesn't get it. The board said the unprecedented pay package was necessary to hold "Elon's attention" and inspire him "to focus on achieving astonishing growth for our company."
A letter from the judge in the Delaware Tesla pay package suit called the June 13 shareholder meeting a "plot twist" back in May, but stated that "any successful stockholder vote on the Texas Proposal" would not change a Delaware ruling.
Other Tesla shareholders, meanwhile, aren't happy about Musk's AI startup, xAI, and are suing him in Delaware for creating what they argue is a rival firm.