Tesla Board Agrees to Return Cash and Stock Options in Settlement of Excessive Compensation Case

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s astronomical pay package raised a lot of eyebrows and is still working its way through the courts, but today, we’re here to talk about Tesla board member compensation. The automaker’s directors recently settled a case with Tesla shareholders, who alleged that they took enormous sums in compensation and deprived investors of their earnings.

The automaker settled with the Police and fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit, which brought the suit over claims that the shareholders received excessive compensation. While most S&P 500 board members receive around $300,000 or so annually, the shareholders said Tesla’s directors took hundreds of millions of dollars between 2017 and 2020.

Board members agreed to return $277 million in cash and more than $600 million in stock options, totaling almost $1 billion. If you’re wondering how anyone could get away with such a grift, it’s good to note here that most of the Tesla board comes from Elon’s inner circle, including his brother and Larry Ellison, Oracle’s cofounder and close friend of Musk.

The board did not admit to wrongdoing in the settlement. Despite that, Tesla remains embroiled in compensation-related litigation, as Musk’s $55 billion pay package is heading to the Delaware Supreme Court after the same judge from the board members’ settlement found that it was not negotiated in good faith.

[Images: Tesla, Shutterstock]

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