Delaware High Court Restores Musk’s 2018 $56 Billion Tesla Pay Package

Elon Musk’s controversial $56 billion pay package from Tesla has been reinstated by the Delaware Supreme Court, two years after a lower court struck down the compensation deal as “unfathomable,” Maddy Lauria reported for The Guardian.

Tesla's shareholders approved a stopgap measure that ensures Musk will receive the $56 billion compensation package his supporters argue he is owed. (Photo: Gage Skidmore) 

The reinstated package could be worth as much as $139 billion today, according to The New York Times.

The ruling comes less than two months after Tesla shareholders approved a new plan that could eventually be worth $1 trillion to Musk over the next decade. Musk’s personal fortune is currently estimated at $600 billion.

Rescinding the pay deal would be “inequitable” and would leave Musk “uncompensated for his time and efforts over a six-year period,” the justices wrote, echoing arguments made by Tesla board members.

At Tesla’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas, in November, shareholders approved a stopgap measure ensuring that — regardless of how the Delaware Supreme Court ruled on the appeal — Musk would receive the $56 billion compensation package his supporters argue he is owed.