Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and the popular social media platform X, is under the spotlight again in the US. The billionaire’s initiatives, especially those related to interplanetary travel, have once again stirred public interest. However, Musk faced a setback as an American court tossed out Elon Musk's record-breaking $56 billion pay package. The judge described this amount as "an unfathomable sum" in the context of spending on planetary-scale initiatives. In the US, Judge Kathaleen McCormick of Delaware's Court of Chancery halted the bonus payment of $55.8 billion to the billionaire, a sum stipulated in his contract with Tesla. Previously, during court proceedings in November 2022, the head of Tesla and SpaceX argued that these funds would be allocated for financing interplanetary travel. Nonetheless, this bold dream was not meant to materialize. In 2024, the Delaware court denied Musk this payment. Judge Kathaleen McCormick referred to the amount as "unfathomable." The rationale behind this decision was detailed in a 200-page judicial conclusion. According to McCormick, such large payments are unfair to shareholders. Notably, the agreement under which such payments are made was approved by a board of directors. However, "many board members owed much of their personal wealth to Mr. Musk, and he effectively dictated his own pay package", McCormick wrote. Notably, in 2018, the billionaire forwent his salary, linking his compensation to the company's achievement of key performance indicators. Under the agreement with the board of directors, Musk could claim options on stock packages equivalent to 1% of all shares in circulation. This contract is set for a 10-year duration. Notably, these options grant the businessman the right to purchase Tesla shares at a fixed price of $70.01 each.
