---
title: "Musk Makes Final Pitch to Judge Who Blocked Record Pay Deal"
description: "One of the last chapters in Elon Musk’s six-year legal fight to save his $56 billion Tesla Inc. pay package unfolded Friday, as the world’s richest man made his final pitch to a judge that ruled the compensation deal was improper."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-08-02-musk-makes-final-pitch-to-judge-who-blocked-record-pay-deal/"
published: "2024-08-02T18:49:15"
updated: "2024-08-02T18:53:39"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 372
---

# Musk Makes Final Pitch to Judge Who Blocked Record Pay Deal

> One of the last chapters in Elon Musk’s six-year legal fight to save his $56 billion Tesla Inc. pay package unfolded Friday, as the world’s richest man made his final pitch to a judge that ruled the compensation deal was improper.

By Bloomberg · Published 2 August 2024, 20:49 SAST · Updated 2 August 2024, 20:53 SAST

## Content

Delaware Chancery Court Judge [Kathaleen St. J. McCormick](https://courts.delaware.gov/chancery/judges.aspx) heard arguments Friday on whether a June 13 vote by shareholders to revive the compensation for Tesla’s co-founder justifies changing [her ruling](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-31/musk-judge-rules-unfathomable-pay-deal-made-tesla-ceo-overpaid). Earlier this year, she found the largest executive-pay package in history was fouled by conflicts of interest and improper disclosures.“We’re asking you to give effect to the vote,” Tesla lawyer David Ross said during the hearing. Just because the board used a flawed process for setting Musk’s pay, stakeholders “shouldn’t be foreclosed” from deciding to ratify the compensation package, he said.

However, under questioning from McCormick, Ross acknowledged that an investor vote had never been used to affect a post-trial ruling under Delaware law. The judge has no legal obligation to recognize the vote, but she can consider it. If she sticks with her earlier decision, Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, can finally appeal the decision to the Delaware Supreme Court.

Read More: [Tesla Investors Get Behind Musk’s Fight for $56 Billion Pay Deal](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-13/tesla-vote-results-approve-elon-musk-s-56-billion-pay-deal)

Musk’s lawyers argue the proxy vote by Tesla investors addressed concerns raised by the judge, including that the [company directors](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-31/musk-pay-judge-slams-supine-tesla-board-here-s-who-signed-off) who approved the pay plan were beholden to the billionaire and not looking after shareholders’ interests.

Attorneys for Richard Tornetta, a Tesla investor who challenged Musk’s pay as a waste of corporate assets, argued the shareholder vote was irrelevant to the case and that the company’s maneuvers to address problems identified by the judge were inadequate.

McCormick isn’t expected to rule on the relevance of the shareholder vote until later this year. The ruling also will include her decision on a request by Tornetta’s lawyers to have their [legal fees](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-01/lawyers-who-killed-musk-s-56-billion-pay-pact-seek-tesla-stock) for winning the case paid with $7 billion in Tesla stock.

McCormick’s courtroom in Wilmington, Delaware, was packed with lawyers, reporters and onlookers for what may be the last hearing in a case that began with Tornetta’s lawsuit in 2018. Neither Musk nor Tornetta were in attendance.

The unprecedented court case has drawn world-wide attention. More than 8,000 Tesla shareholders sent letters to McCormick sharing their opinions on her pay ruling. And Musk was so upset by the judge’s decision to block the pay packages that [he moved](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-14/musk-officially-shifts-tesla-incorporation-to-texas-after-vote) Tesla’s state of incorporation out of Delaware to Texas.