Tesla shareholders seem to fathom Musk’s package just fine

IF YOU cannot stomach defending a billionaire’s right to make more money, you’d best avert your eyes now. Perhaps you can raise them heavenward – you will be in good company with Tesla shareholders and other corporate rubberneckers as they contemplate the debacle of Elon Musk’s pay package.

In January, Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick stood up for the little guy by nullifying Musk’s US$56 billion pay package at Tesla. Turns out, the little guy didn’t want any saving. On Jun 13, shareholders again overwhelmingly voted to award Tesla’s chief executive the same pay package they’d approved in 2018. This, despite McCormick’s finding earlier this year that the 2018 package was unfair because she’d considered two basic issues – price and process – and found them both problematic.

It’s fairly easy to get behind her dim view of Tesla’s compensation approval process. Back in 2018, the independence of the compensation committee was laughable. One committee member had known Musk for 15 years and another had regularly vacationed with his family.