ELON Musk has thanked his besotted Tesla shareholders after receiving the world’s largest ever pay package.
The CEO of the car giant was supported by his team and received a whopping pay increase totaling more than $56 billion, as a beaming Musk declared his love for everyone who helped him get the cash bonus.
Tesla confirmed the proposals to allow the billionaire to get his hands on the big pay deal, and also announced new plans to legally move the company to Texas.
Giddy shareholders chanted “Elon Musk, Elon Musk” after preliminary results were read out during Tesla’s annual meeting at its headquarters in Austin, Texas.
The boss won an overwhelming 77 percent of the vote, a company filing showed.
Speaking to shareholders after the results were announced, an ever-affable Musk said: “Damn, I love you guys.”
The sensational plan was first outlined in 2018 when he agreed to the massive pay package, but celebrations were quickly halted when the deal was annulled.
A judge in Delaware, Tesla’s former home, nixed the pay deal in January as he raised concerns about the board’s transparency and independence.
For months, a combative Musk has fought alongside Tesla’s board in an attempt to convince its shareholders to back the deal.
Hoping that with their approval, his chances of successfully appealing the Delaware ruling would be greatly improved.
Wall Street sees the blockbuster vote as a sign of the company’s confidence in Musk’s leadership.
With Daniel Ives, a technology analyst at Wedbush Securities, saying the landslide vote was a “pop the champagne moment for Musk and Tesla shareholders.”
Ives added: “Tesla is Musk and Musk is Tesla. Shareholders have spoken loudly.”
Despite the business magnate investing a few extra billions for himself, the automaker’s shares are down about 60 percent as of 2021.
Partly because electric vehicle sales are declining overall, but also because of claims that Musk has seen his other businesses as more important.
His ambitious battle to make progress in the artificial intelligence market and improve the way his X social media platform is viewed has taken up much of his time.
But booming companies SpaceX and Neuralink are said to have been his main focus over the past twelve months.
It is believed that Tesla’s board voted in favor of the pay package because the company has met all of Musk’s ambitious targets.
They claim to have achieved their market value, revenue and profitability targets, with shares in the company also rising.
Baron Capital shareholder Ron Baron voted in favor of the pay bump, citing Musk’s “relentless drive and uncompromising standards.”
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But even with clear support from the majority of his investors, Musk could be without additional cash for a while.
Adam Badawi, a law professor at UC Berkeley, said: “Even if shareholders approve the old package, it is not clear that the Delaware court will allow that vote to be effective.”
It comes as The Sun reported last month that Musk’s “indestructible” Tesla Cybertruck has endured a worrying first six months on the road.
The beast of a car has been plagued by massive crashes, stuck on the road, broken wheels and even reports of ‘critical steering problems’.
Although many of the blunders appear to have been caused by driver error as overzealous owners attempt to test the £7,000 machines off-road.
In April, it was also revealed that Tesla would be laying off more than ten percent of its global workforce, according to reports.
It is said that around 14,000 jobs will be lost, but it is not yet known where these will be lost across the company.