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Elon Musk said Tesla will vote on whether to transfer the automaker’s corporate registration to Texas, following a Delaware court ruling that struck down his $56 billion pay package.
Tesla will “immediately” vote among shareholders on whether to move its company from Delaware to Texas, the billionaire wrote in a post on his social media platform X on Wednesday evening.
Musk cited an earlier poll posted on X asking, “Should Tesla change its state of incorporation to Texas, home of its physical headquarters?” The result showed that 87.1% of 1.1 million voters believe the electric car maker should change its corporate charter.
The public vote is unequivocally in favor of Texas!
Tesla will move immediately to hold a shareholder vote to move its state of incorporation to Texas. https://t.co/ParwqQvS3d
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2024
Musk’s intervention comes after Delaware Court of Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick ruled that a record pay package for Tesla’s CEO was improperly approved by the company’s board and had shareholders short term.
Tesla already has strong ties to Texas, having moved its headquarters to Austin from Silicon Valley as Musk railed against California’s lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.
McCormick rejected Musk’s proposed pay package despite the company hitting 12 of 16 ambitious financial goals approved by the automaker’s board of directors in 2018. Some Tesla shareholders sued, claiming the bonus was excessive.
Musk has already asked his followers on X their opinion on significant business decisions. In 2021 he asked whether he should sell more of his Tesla shares, while a year later he asked their opinion on whether he should step down as head of Twitter, now renamed X, following the purchase of the platform.
Hours after the ruling, which Tesla may still appeal, Musk wrote on X: “Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware.”
The ruling comes at a difficult time for Tesla, which last month warned that sales growth would slow due to fewer consumers and intensifying competition, particularly from China’s BYD. Tesla’s stock price is down about a quarter this year.
When targets for Musk’s compensation were set in 2018, they were deemed extremely stringent as Tesla struggled to ramp up production.
The plan was intended to lock him into the business at a time when the board feared he might leave to focus on other interests.