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Tesla shareholders voted to reapprove chief executive Elon Musk’s $56bn pay and to reincorporate the electric-vehicle maker in Texas, handing him significant victories as he seeks to reassert control over the company.
The preliminary results, announced at Tesla’s annual meeting in Austin on Thursday, will strengthen the company’s hand as it attempts to overturn a January decision by a Delaware court to void the 2018 package of stock options — the largest in US history — due to concerns about its size and the independence of the board.
While the vote does not supersede the court’s decision, the ratification could prove instrumental in persuading the judge to reverse or amend her stance. Musk’s grip on the company would be tightened, boosting the chief executive’s stake to more than 20 per cent from his current 13 per cent.
Musk and the board have for the past few months led a campaign to rally Tesla’s retail shareholders — who own about 30 per cent of the company — to back the two resolutions in what amounted to a referendum on the mercurial leadership of one of the world’s richest people.
They also lobbied institutional investors to go against the guidance of proxy advisers ISS and Glass Lewis, who opposed the “outsized” and “excessive” pay package.
Two of Musk’s crucial allies on the board were also re-elected despite opposition from proxy advisers: former 21st Century Fox chief executive James Murdoch and Musk’s brother Kimbal.
After the polls closed just after 4pm in Austin, Musk emerged on stage to address a rapturous crowd chanting his name, jumping up and down in front of a blue and pink neon sign in the shape of Texas advertising the “cyber roundup”, as its annual meeting is branded.
“Hot damn I love you guys,” Musk said to the carefully-selected audience of retail investors. “We have the most awesome shareholder base of any public company . . . we are not starting a new chapter, but opening a new book.”
The victories were not unexpected after Musk posted on X on Wednesday night that both resolutions were “currently passing by wide margins!”
Tesla shares rose 3 per cent on Thursday after his post, but have fallen 27 per cent so far this year.
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