Tesla and SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk pauses during an in-conversation event with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London, Britain, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. POOL / VIA REUTERS
In an unprecedented move, legal representatives of a Tesla shareholder, pivotal in invalidating Elon Musk's staggering 2018 compensation package, have petitioned the Delaware Chancery Court on Friday, March 1, for nearly $6 billion in legal fees, proposed to be settled in company shares. "The size of the requested award is great because the value of the benefit to Tesla that Plaintiff's Counsel achieved was massive," the firms said.
The court in January approved the annulment of Musk's 2018 enormous compensation agreement worth $55.8 billion, siding with Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta, who claimed Musk was overpaid. The firms asked the court for reimbursement of costs incurred, which they estimate at $1.12 million, as well as 29.4 million Tesla shares, which were listed at $202.64 per share at the close of Wall Street on Friday. In an unusual request, the firms want the entire amount, $5.96 billion at today's price, to be paid in Tesla shares.
This would represent a little under 1 percent of Tesla's total capital but would place the firms, combined, among Tesla's 10 largest shareholders.
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